BC Greens say public must have a say whether AI data centres get built

VICTORIA – BC Greens Leader Emily Lowan says NDP policies on AI data centres don’t go far enough, and the public must play a role in deciding whether they get approved.

The Greens have previously said the party would block new data centres in the province until there’s tougher regulation, and Lowan says in response to NDP campaign policies that communities need to “have a say” in whether they get built at all.

NDP Leader David Eby on Saturday issued data centre policies including water-efficiency standards, mandated reporting of water consumption, and community engagement on conservation and drought planning, while maintaining BC Hydro’s limits on power for the projects.

But Lowan says the NDP hasn’t said whether communities would get a veto on construction of the power-hungry operations.

The Greens said earlier this month that they would halt both construction and operation of AI data centres until a “detailed public-interest audit” is developed and a regulatory regime implemented.

They say they would work with the federal government to create an “independent AI oversight commission,” adding that even AI companies now say things are moving too fast.

Lowan, who is standing in the Oct. 24 election as a candidate for Saanich North and the Islands, said late Saturday that Eby’s “new water rules will tell communities how much water a data centre uses after it’s built but won’t say if they can say no to a data centre before it’s approved.”

In May, Telus and federal AI Minister Evan Solomon announced a cluster of three AI data centres in B.C.

Eby had said in his role as premier that month that AI companies were shopping around for support from governments, and federal and provincial funding “helps them to be able to expand and keeps them located here in British Columbia.”

He said he was an optimist about the technology having seen both the “opportunity and the threat” it presented.

Telus said previously that two data centres planned for Vancouver and one in Kamloops would draw 150 megawatts of power by 2032. 

That is equivalent to about 12 to 14 per cent of the output of the newly built Site C dam in northeast B.C.

In January, the B.C. Conservatives criticized the NDP for “rationing electricity,” saying that limiting access to power would delay or cancel data centre construction.

It said the “root problem” was that B.C. “does not have enough firm, affordable power to meet growing demand.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2026.