Prohibit Data Centres as a Land use in North Cowichan
During our September 2nd 2026 meeting I will be asking council to support my request to have staff amend our zoning bylaw to prohibit data centres as a land use in North Cowichan.
Learning From Nanaimo’s Recent Data Centres Council Experience
I am doing so in part as I have seen the struggles Nanaimo has encountered recently with a data centre that is moving forward. (Read the Discourse article; What’s The Deal with the Proposed data Centre in Nanaimo ) Carefully watching Nanaimo Councillor Hilary Eastmure work through what happens when zoning is isn’t explicit on data centres has inspired me to be proactive in here in North Cowichan.
As reported by Nanaimo Bulletin, At its meeting on Monday, July 20 2026, council voted to direct staff to prepare an amendment to Nanaimo’s official community plan to require that any future rezoning applications for a data centre include detailed information on daily and yearly water use, energy consumption, and energy and water conservation plans. Read the full article HERE
North Cowichan’s Existing Guiding Policies and Plans
My intent is to have this prohibition in place so that a prospective developer would need to trigger a zoning amendment and subsequent public hearing to build. This would serve as a stop gap measure until we can have meaningful community input on data centres (cloud storage and/or AI) and if this is a land use the community wishes to allow. The near future North Cowichan OCP review and anticipated commercial & industrial municipal wide zoning bylaw updates will be perfect opportunities to further engage the community to set appropriate policies and bylaws.
Furthermore does a data centre fully align with the values and future North Cowichan residents hope to see. When one looks at the Biodiversity Protection Policy , Climate Change Risk Assessment and Adaptation Strategy and 2025 Economic Development Plan that our council adopted during this term it is hard to envision a future where a data centre makes sense.
Another major obstacle we are currently facing in North Cowichan is an immense backlog of capital infrastructure upgrades and replacements from lack of adequate invest for many decades. With the surge in growth and new build pressures North Cowichan is experiencing, utilization of limited resources should provide the municipality with the highest return on investment.
“There are currently a very large number of encumbered applications that are stressing our utilities. When the unit count is considered for all applications in-stream there is clearly insufficient capacity in our utilities” – Clay Reitsma – Director Engineering North Cowichan from his report memo titled Implications of the BMLAP North of Herd Road Decision re. Servicing Capacity during the November 12 2025 council meeting.
North Cowichan Climate Action and Energy Plan
Lastly, reading through North Cowichan’s Climate Action and Energy Plan (CAEP) it is hard to see how this type of land use is applicable. The CAEP articulated seven categories of actions, informed by technical analysis and research, and significant engagement with the public, the Environmental Advisory Committee and Council:
- Low-carbon industry, agriculture, and forestry
- Compact, complete communities
- Efficient buildings
- Low-carbon transportation
- Local renewable energy generation
- Renewable energy procurement
- Efficient water and waste
In summary, I hope the community and council will vote to endorse and approve my motion which reads as follows;
Motion to Prohibit Data Centres as a land use throughout North Cowichan
Purpose: So that Councillor Istace can provide the following motion to be considered at the September 2, 2026 Regular Council Meeting.
“WHEREAS data centres have the potential to place significant demands on municipal infrastructure, including water supply and electrical services;
AND WHEREAS the Municipality of North Cowichan seeks to ensure the long-term sustainability of municipal infrastructure and resources;
AND WHEREAS Council recognizes the importance of preserving agricultural and industrial lands for agriculture, employment uses, and value-added economic sectors identified in North Cowichan’s Economic Development Action Plan;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council directs staff to prepare and bring forward a Zoning Bylaw amendment to define and prohibit Data Centres as a land use throughout North Cowichan.”
I will round out this blog post today with a quote from Ed Zitron, an economic research company owner and journalist.
“Data centers are a monument to everything wrong with the world — horrifyingly large, loud, demanding of power and water and resources of all kinds. They create very few jobs, and those involved in their construction are usually from out-of-state. Their actual value to the world is largely tied up in their nebulous theoretical contribution to something an AI company does, and they get huge tax breaks, which means they don’t really contribute very much to many of the areas they’re put in. They are intentionally conflated with the smaller, useful data centers we’ve had in the past, all so that pedants can say “ehhmmm, you never had a problem with these before?” ~ Ed Zitron
For some background reading on why I chose to run for council 4 years ago, if you have a moment read my blog post from 2022.
