Data Centres, Water, Power, and the Planning Gap Hitting Toronto-Danforth

This is what a modern hyperscale data centre looks like. Once operational, facilities like this employ relatively few people but require significant electricity, cooling infrastructure, and backup power systems. They are an important part of the digital economy, but communities deserve transparent planning that considers their long-term impacts on energy, water, noise, and neighbourhood compatibility.

⭐ A single large data centre can consume as much electricity as 15,000 to 100,000 homes, operating 24 hours a day.

⭐ Toronto's electricity demand is expected to rise sharply over the next decade, yet major growth is still moving ahead without a comprehensive local energy strategy.

⭐ Smart growth means planning power, water, jobs, housing, and infrastructure together. Not approving development first and solving the problems after, when the expense to the community tax base is highest.

Growth should strengthen community, not outpace it.

I’ve been walking the ward and talking with residents and small business owners. People keep raising the same practical questions about the rapid expansion of data centres across the GTA, including facilities on Danforth Avenue in Scarborough and proposals nearby.

A large modern data centre typically draws between 20 and 100 megawatts (MW) of continuous electricity. To put that in perspective, 1 MW can power roughly 750–1,000 homes, meaning a single large facility can consume the equivalent load of 15,000 to 100,000 households operating 24/7. Unlike residential demand, this load is constant, which places a different kind of stress on the grid.

Ontario’s grid is still powered primarily by nuclear and hydroelectric generation, which is one of our greatest strengths. However, the challenge is not generation alone; it is transmission and local distribution capacity. According to recent IESO planning outlooks (2023–2024), electricity demand in the Greater Toronto Area is projected to increase 65% by 2050, driven by electrification of transit, heating, AI/data centres and new housing development. At the same time, several local transmission corridors into Toronto are already operating near peak capacity during high-demand periods, with limited redundancy for large new industrial loads.

Without upgrades, adding multiple 50–100 MW data centres in the same region can require new transmission lines, substations, or load curtailment agreements, each of which can take 5–10 years to plan and build. This is the scale of infrastructure planning that must be considered before approvals are granted, not after.

Overall, in the reference scenario, commercial data centre sub-sector-level specific net annual energy demand is projected to grow from 4.5 TWh in 2027 to 22.6 TWh in 2050 — an increase of 17 TWh, 382 percent, or a compound annual growth rate of 7.1 percent.

APO Demand Forecast Module

Cooling is another part of the story that rarely gets discussed. A mid-sized data centre can use approximately 1–5 million litres of water per day depending on design, climate, and efficiency standards, although newer closed-loop or air-cooled systems can reduce this significantly. Electricity use for cooling can account for 30–40% of total facility load in some configurations.

Some downtown facilities can connect to Enwave’s Deep Lake Water Cooling system, which reduces both electricity and water demand by using lake-sourced thermal exchange. However, this system has limited capacity and geographic reach, and most suburban sites do not have access to it. As more facilities are built, the cumulative demand on both the electrical grid and municipal water infrastructure becomes a planning issue that cannot be ignored.

The Port Lands illustrate the larger planning gap. Recent zoning changes now permit more than 40,000 new homes while planning for approximately 2,700 ground-floor retail jobs. Yet there is still no fully integrated local energy strategy that matches the scale of this transformation. The Port Lands Energy Centre provides approximately 550 MW of flexible generation capacity, which is critical during periods of peak demand, but it is not a substitute for coordinated planning for electricity transmission, water infrastructure, employment lands, and future industrial energy needs.

Development continues to move ahead, but the long-term plan for electricity, water, and supporting infrastructure continues to lag. The same pattern appears with data centres. Projects move forward while the questions about system-wide cost, grid impact, and long-term community benefit are left for later.

Good economic development creates lasting local value. It supports small businesses, creates diverse, well-paying jobs, strengthens neighbourhoods, and ensures infrastructure grows alongside development. Data centres can be an important part of the digital economy, but they are not major job creators once operational. They require substantial electricity, cooling, and land while employing relatively few people compared with many other commercial or industrial uses. They can also introduce noise from cooling equipment and backup systems, affecting nearby neighbourhoods. If communities are expected to support these facilities, they deserve transparent planning that weighs both the benefits and the costs.

I am not against technology. I am not against progress. I am not against development.

I am against planning that treats electricity, water, transportation, and community resilience as afterthoughts. Growth should leave a community stronger than it found it, with the infrastructure, jobs, services, and public spaces that support the people who live there. That is the difference between simply building more and building well.

Local government works best when it asks difficult questions before approvals are granted, insists on transparent impact assessments, and ensures growth strengthens rather than strains the communities where people live and work.

On October 26, Ward 14 has a choice.

Twenty-three years is enough time to build a complete community. It's time for leadership that plans for housing, jobs, healthcare, energy, parks, and infrastructure as one connected system.

We can keep approving growth first and planning for it later, or we can build communities where growth and infrastructure move forward together. That is the kind of leadership Toronto deserves.