Hamilton residents are already facing significant environmental, infrastructure, and public health pressures. Our city has historically carried one of Ontario’s heaviest industrial burdens, while residents continue to face worsening housing insecurity, homelessness, affordability challenges, and longstanding air quality concerns.

Many residents are questioning why another large-scale, resource-intensive industrial development is being prioritized before these existing challenges are meaningfully addressed.

Recent reporting and community investigations have raised additional concerns regarding the potential scale, environmental impact, water usage, electrical demand, and infrastructure strain associated with proposed data centre developments at Hamilton’s Steelport site.

Public concern surrounding these developments continues to grow as more residents become aware of the potential long-term impacts on surrounding communities.

Publicly available reporting has also raised concerns regarding the potential scale of these developments, including references to “400+ MW available” power capacity and “1 GW potential” tied to future hyperscale data centre expansion proposals at the Steelport site.

Hamilton residents are concerned about the potential impacts associated with large-scale AI data centres, including:

• extreme electricity demand and strain on local infrastructure
• massive water consumption for industrial cooling systems
• increased pressure on municipal water resources during ongoing affordability and infrastructure crises
• environmental concerns surrounding industrial cooling processes and backup power systems
• noise pollution from cooling equipment and generators
• lack of transparency and meaningful public consultation
• limited long-term local benefit relative to the scale of development 

Communities across the United States experiencing rapid AI data centre expansion have already raised concerns regarding:

• strain on local water supplies from high-volume cooling demands
• pressure on aging energy infrastructure and power grids
• environmental impacts tied to rapid industrial expansion
• noise pollution affecting nearby neighbourhoods
• lack of meaningful public consultation and transparency

Residents are also concerned by reports indicating that portions of the proposed development may be situated within close proximity to surrounding neighbourhoods and residential communities.

Hamilton residents deserve:

• full transparency regarding proposed developments
• meaningful public consultation before approvals move forward
• comprehensive environmental and infrastructure impact assessments
• independent review of long-term community and public health impacts
• clear disclosure regarding projected water and energy usage
• a planning process that prioritizes public health, environmental responsibility, housing stability, and community wellbeing
• updated zoning and approval processes that reflect the realities and impacts of modern hyperscale data centre infrastructure

We urge Hamilton City Council to pause or oppose approvals related to proposed data centre developments until residents are properly consulted and all environmental, infrastructure, and public health concerns are independently assessed and publicly addressed.

Sign this petition to demand transparency, accountability, meaningful public consultation, and responsible city planning before large-scale data centre developments move forward in Hamilton.

Want to do more than sign?

Hamilton residents can also contact the City Council and the Mayor directly using the pre-written email link below.

Click here to instantly send an email to Hamilton City Council expressing your concerns regarding the proposed data centre developments:

https://tinyurl.com/e5zwxa87

Please consider both signing and sharing this petition to help increase public awareness and community participation.

Residents may also wish to support additional community efforts calling for transparency and public consultation regarding the proposed Steelport AI data centre developments:

https://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/protect-the-hamilton-harbour-demand-public-consultation-on-the-steelport-ai-data-centre