Ontario Launches Data Centre Playbook

New framework signals how Ontario will evaluate and prioritize future data centre investments.‍

Earlier today, Premier Ford, alongside Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Minister Vic Fedeli, Public and Business Service Delivery Minister Stephen Crawford, and Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries Sam Oosterhoff, released for a 30-day public consultation period on the ERO registry a draft Data Centre Playbook, establishing the province's proposed framework for evaluating large-scale data centre projects seeking connection to the provincial electricity grid. The Playbook forms part of the government's broader effort to align electricity-system planning, economic development, AI infrastructure and digital sovereignty objectives.

The scale of prospective development helps explain the government's intervention. The Ministry of Energy and Mines estimates that requests for new data centre connections could represent more than 10,000 MW of cumulative electricity demand. For comparison, Ontario's recent peak electricity demand has been approximately 25,000 MW.

Against this backdrop, Ontario is proposing to move beyond a framework focused principally on whether projects can technically connect to the grid, toward one that also considers which projects provide the greatest economic, strategic and community value to the province.

From Bill 40 to the Data Centre Playbook

The Playbook builds on authorities established through the Protect Ontario by Securing Affordable Energy for Generations Act (Bill 40), which gave the provincial government new authority to determine which prescribed large-load facilities, including data centres, can connect to Ontario's electricity grid.
While Bill 40 established that authority, the proposed Playbook begins to provide greater clarity on how the government intends to evaluate data centre projects when making future connection decisions.

Feedback from the Environmental Registry of Ontario and Ontario Regulatory Registry consultation will inform a final Data Centre Playbook expected this fall, alongside the province's forthcoming AI Industrial Strategy.

Some important implementation details remain to be determined, including the thresholds that will determine which data centres require provincial connection approval, how strategic criteria will be applied, and the design of the proposed new electricity rate class for large new data centres.

Click here to read our full analysis to understand how Ontario plans to attract data centre investment.