Power and industrial equipment sourcing
Send a requirementWhere a large data centre can get power in Canada. The rules and the numbers shift month to month.
No cap. You connect through IESO and the transmitter, usually Hydro One.
The hold-ups are the province’s unfinished approval rules and municipal land use.
3 years or more to connect, IESO's figure for new facilities 13 projects Full Ontario record
26,849 MW requested on AESO's connection list
The interim 1,200 MW of grid capacity went to GLDC (970 MW) and Keephills (230 MW). Everyone else has no connection date.
Projects that bring their own generation go first once AESO opens that process.
3 to 6.3 years, from AESO's dates for the 970 MW GLDC project 27 projects Full Alberta record
One provincial intake, judged on six principles including Canadian ownership and local jobs.
2 projects Full Saskatchewan record
BC Hydro’s competitive call: up to 400 MW for data centres over two years from February 2026. The first call drew about twice that.
12 projects Full British Columbia record
Projects of 5 MW and up need the government’s authorization.
There is no published cap, but local transmission is thin.
18 projects Full Quebec record
The minister ranks every request over 5 MW as low, medium or high. Low priority waits behind everyone else, with no appeal.
3 projects Full Manitoba record
Large loads go through the utility’s general process, where it has one.
A framework for approving data centres was out for comment until 2 October 2026. It is not in force.
1 project Full New Brunswick record
The grid is small: a 100 MW data centre would be about 4% of its record peak.
New power depends on the Churchill Falls and Gull Island deal with Quebec, which is not final.
The island is short of power at winter peak and relies on imports.
A small, mostly hydro grid, with spending going to reliability rather than new large loads.
Little spare hydro, and most communities run on diesel.
Each community runs its own diesel plant, so a large load needs its own generation.
The last three months, newest first.
With an election called, BC Hydro delays its Call for Demand results
Legislature approves the draft Churchill Falls and Gull Island deal, 21 to 18
Mississauga pauses data centres of 10 MW or more for up to a year
Bell and Saskatchewan sign a non-binding deal for up to 900 MW more
AESO says the bring-your-own-generation process and first intake will come this fall
IESO posts revised technical requirements for large computing loads