York Region’s data centres are on track to consume 200 million litres of water a day

A cluster of existing and proposed data centres in Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill are forecasted to consume 22 million litres a day—enough for 100,000 residents. The figures come from Richmond Hill councillor Carol Davidson. Her motion calling on York Region to assess the long-term implications of such usage passed at a city council meeting on Wednesday. It will go to York Regional Council in September.

“York Region is becoming one of Ontario’s largest data centre hubs,” Davidson said in a post on her website. “Today, there are at least six operational centres, four under construction and another three proposed or planned across the region. Industry estimates suggest they could require more than 500 megawatts of electrical capacity over the next decade.”

Construction giant Urbacon alone has three operational data centres, one under construction and two more planned as part of the Barker Digital Campus off Leslie Street. Another facility has been proposed near Leslie Street and Orlando Avenue, and according to Davidson, it could use as much as 2.4 million litres of water a day—the daily consumption of roughly 10,000 residents.

“My motion does not oppose data centres,” Davidson said. “It asks a simple but important question: Has York Region fully accounted for the combined impact of all these facilities when planning future infrastructure?”

Many corners of the GTHA are also grappling with the implications of the AI boom. In Scarborough, residents have raised concerns about noise, emissions and the environmental footprint of Stack Infrastructure’s facility at 3650 Danforth Avenue, which is slated for expansion. Similar debates are being had in Mississauga, where a proposed hyper-scale data centre has sparked questions about environmental impacts and how municipalities should accommodate such rapid demand.