{"slug": "protesters-oppose-proposed-ai-data-centres-in-vancouver", "title": "Protesters Oppose Proposed AI Data Centres in Vancouver", "summary": "Hundreds of protesters gathered near the Vancouver Art Gallery on June 27, 2026, opposing proposed AI data centres in a partnership between Telus and the federal government, with a petition gathering 15,000 signatures. The projects, including a former Hootsuite headquarters in Mount Pleasant and a facility at 150 West Georgia St., face backlash over water use, energy demand, and lack of public consultation.", "body_md": "Industry context: Local backlash against AI infrastructure can affect permitting timelines and public perception of AI deployments, a practical risk for engineers and planners working on on-premises or regional cloud capacity. CityNews reported that hundreds of protesters gathered near the Vancouver Art Gallery on June 27, 2026, in a second demonstration within a month opposing proposed AI data centres; CityNews says a related petition has gathered **15,000** signatures. CBC reports the projects are a partnership between **Telus** and the federal government and that one site, the former Hootsuite headquarters in Mount Pleasant, is slated to come online by the end of 2026 while a second facility at **150 West Georgia St.** is planned for **2029**. Protesters quoted by CBC and CityNews cited concerns about water use, energy demand and lack of public consultation, and CBC cited an International Energy Agency figure that data centres used **140 billion litres** of water globally in 2023.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/protesters-oppose-proposed-ai-data-centres-in-vancouver", "canonical_source": "https://letsdatascience.com/news/protesters-oppose-proposed-ai-data-centres-in-vancouver-c1efb17f", "published_at": "2026-06-28 21:48:32+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-28 23:08:28.565284+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-ethics", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Telus", "Hootsuite", "Vancouver Art Gallery", "Mount Pleasant", "150 West Georgia St.", "International Energy Agency", "CityNews", "CBC"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/protesters-oppose-proposed-ai-data-centres-in-vancouver", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/protesters-oppose-proposed-ai-data-centres-in-vancouver.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/protesters-oppose-proposed-ai-data-centres-in-vancouver.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/protesters-oppose-proposed-ai-data-centres-in-vancouver.jsonld"}}