New Brunswick data centre debate highlights cross-country tension over AI facilities

FREDERICTON – Chris Watson says he was very concerned when he reviewed a New Brunswick business development agency’s recent correspondence about data centres.

Over the past year, he has been at the forefront of citizen-led opposition to a major data centre project in his neighbourhood in Saint John, N.B.

But when he reviewed the correspondence, released through right-to-information legislation by Opportunities New Brunswick, he discovered the existence of another proposal from a company trying to bring one of the energy-hungry projects to his area.

“It’s not surprising, but it’s just deeply disappointing,” he said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.

Watson said the correspondence shows how New Brunswick is entertaining data centre proposals without sharing important information with the people who will be most affected. 

He also said it shows how the provincial government is scrambling to review projects without adequate rules or guidelines to ensure it can protect both citizens and the environment.

NB Power, the province’s Crown-owned electric utility, confirmed there are 10 applications from data centre projects that would need up to 900 megawatts of power. 

But the utility is declining to identify all of the projects on this list, saying that the applications are confidential. A spokesperson would not confirm if the publicly known projects are on the list.

The Liberal provincial government sees the plants as a potential opportunity to generate economic growth through tax revenue, private sector buy-in and job creation.

The debate playing out in New Brunswick highlights the challenges facing provincial and municipal governments as they face a surge in applications for data centres. 

The facilities can range in size from a micro data centre about the size of a refrigerator to a hyperscale campus that consumes a level of power comparable to a small city.

The New Brunswick government is currently working on a policy framework for data centre development that it recently sought public feedback on.

“Data centre development could be an opportunity for New Brunswick to generate economic growth through tax revenue, private sector investment, construction and permanent job creation, and potential offshoot economic and community benefits,” the provincial government said on its feedback page.

Watson, who is part of a grassroots community group called Save Lorneville, says the government should impose a moratorium on new data centre projects until it has stronger policies in place to protect residents, businesses and the environment.

Among the publicly known proposed data centres in New Brunswick, none have acquired final approval.

A 400-megawatt data centre is at the heart of a $2 billion artificial intelligence hub proposed through a joint venture by Beacon Data Centers of Alberta and U.S. firm VoltaGrid.

The Beacon Data Centers project will get about half its power from the grid and the rest from an on-site power plant. It’s currently under regulatory review. 

Billed as Atlantic Canada’s first hyperscale artificial intelligence facility, the project sparked intense backlash from some residents who lived near the industrial park where it’s set to be built, including Watson and his group.

Just this month, Fredericton-based Faster Than Light introduced its plan for a $2.7 billion, 375-megawatt data centre publicly for the first time. 

And then there is the proposal from U.S. firm Cross River Infrastructure Partners that was discovered by Watson and his neighbourhood advocacy group. The proposal is located in the same Spruce Lake Industrial Park as the Beacon Data Centers project.

Cross River Infrastructure wrote to the Opportunities NB minister in a letter dated April 28 asking for 50 megawatts of power for a “large-scale data centre campus” that could include future expansion.

Meanwhile, the NB Power spokesperson said the 10 applications it has received will not necessarily be approved to connect to the grid. The spokesperson also said large projects like data centres would require contractual flexibility to protect the grid and avoid pressure on customer rates.

Thomas Bateman, a political science professor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, said people are opposed to data centres, in part, because of anxiety about artificial intelligence.

“They don’t know if it’s good or bad — or if it’s going to mean the end of civilization as we know it, or if its going to cure cancer,” he said. Bateman added the other big point of contention is the amount of energy required to run the facillities.

A majority of Canadians aren’t sold on data centres, according to new polling from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute. 

The poll found 64 per cent of Canadians say their own respective provincial governments should limit the development of large data centres. Less than one in five people would encourage more, while the rest were not sure or couldn’t say.

The online survey was conducted from Sept. 8-16 among a representative randomized sample of Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

Canadian opposition to big data centres appears to be at odds with the federal Liberal government’s goals. Ottawa is promoting a major AI data-centre buildout as part of its sovereign-compute and digital-sovereignty agenda.

And despite the political pressure, some provincial governments haven’t shied away from capitalizing on the potential the big facilities have as a revenue stream.

Bell Canada is building what’s expected to be the country’s largest Canadian-owned data centre outside Regina, Sask. 

The $1.7-billion plant, which will use 300 megawatts of power from the provincial grid, was approved before Saskatchewan’s new framework was in place. 

In Alberta, Meta earlier this year announced a $13-billion-plus, one-gigawatt AI data centre in Sturgeon County, north of Edmonton. Hundreds of people protested against the project and the Alberta’s technology minister was booed at a round of town halls. 

Approaches have varied in Eastern Canada. 

In September, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said his Progressive Conservative government would consider proposals from the sector due to changing conditions like geopolitics and Ottawa’s stance.

Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador’s energy minister said the province could sell excess power to one.

In Quebec, the power utility is proposing to double the rates that data centres currently pay as large-power customers in the province.

A consultant hired by Hydro-Quebec also told a public hearing that energy consumption from data centres in North America could increase by 133 per cent between 2024 and 2030.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.

— With files from Jeremy Simes in Regina and Lauren Krugel in Calgary.