We already have a bunch of data centers in Vancouver. The electricity demand, water consumption and air pollution are generally not valid concerns – the current set rarely, if ever, use their diesel generators. Most of those are things like Tier1 data centers, where anyone can go in and buy rackspace to mount servers – a bunch of local companies use them, if they want more ‘sovereign’ network stacks while still having the hefty physical security controls. Having “No” datacenters at all, means putting all your data into US Cloud service providers (at the moment at least, for the most part). I doubt “AI” datacenters are all that different than regular datacenters, unless someone knows different and can clue me in? I’m fairly sure the push to build more “Canadian company owned” datacenters is part of trying to build more ‘sovereign’ tech stacks in Canada, though it’s a bizarre step since DCs have existed for a long time in Canada – it’s the software that’s the bigger issue in general.

The better arguments, I’d say, are that the Job creation estimates look misleading, and that the real estate cost in Vancouver makes it a silly location for multiple new projects of this sort. In terms of job creation, the current data centers in Vancouver do not have a ton of staff at all – they’re generally built like mini-fortresses, with K-Rated fences (enough to stop a semi-truck goin like 100km/h), biometric entry points, mantraps, tons of physical security features… but in terms of actual staff, there’s like maybe 10-30 per site. There are security guards that’re on site 24/7, though it’s usually a relatively small team supported by cameras etc, working out of one primary security office near the main entry point. There are electricians/sparkies, but they usually work at numerous sites since you don’t have constant demand for ‘new’ installations. There’re a couple manager sorts to meet potential clients and do general overhead junk, and a couple to provide ‘remote hands’ troubleshooting if customers need it. Pretending like you’re going to create 525 permanent jobs is a generous estimate – it’s also a piddly number for the investment of public money.

Datacenters are also typically just space/power, with companies needing to install their own compute hardware. Access to those systems is virtual, with the specific physical location not meaning much. Assuming most major cities in BC have decent power availability, and decent telecommunications infrastructure, it makes more sense to build these things in other communities with lower land cost. Even just pushing the vancouver DC’s out towards the valley, or up the coast a ways, would make more sense.