What’s happening?
A company called BUZZ HPC recently purchased a 25 acre plot of land in Oakville, Ontario (on 3480 Ninth Line). They intend to use this land to build an “AI gigafactory” data centre in late 2027. An application to start the construction has not been submitted to the Town of Oakville yet, meaning there is still time to prevent this from moving forwards.

Why does this need to be stopped?
Aside from personal views on AI usage, this data centre will do irreparable harm to our community if it is built. It will have negative environmental impacts on property, the ecosystem, water systems, residents, and animals (this is especially harmful for the wildlife since the field that has been purchased is the habitat for a threatened species of bird, the bobolink). It will also have very high water consumption and energy demands leading to high utility bills, noise pollution, water pollution, and air pollution. It also poses a risk for emergencies such as fires since data centres become extremely hot when in use.

How can you help?
By signing this petition, you can go a long way to preventing this plan from going through. Though petitions with a high number of signatures do not directly mean this plan will be stopped, it will raise awareness for the issue as well as put pressure on our city’s politicians to carefully consider the pros and cons of this data centre.
If you want to help more, you can send an email to Oakville’s mayor, Rob Burton, at [email protected] to express your concerns.