Over the past month, the Say No to AI data centres team at ClimateFast has been tracking candidate responses on supporting an interim control by-law to pause AI data centre development for up to two years. An interim control by-law “is the temporary freezing of identified development permissions on subject lands until a corresponding land use planning study is completed. They can apply for a period of up to two years: one year on adoption by Council, and up to one more year through an extension of the By-law.” (Source) Over 190+ candidates across 25 wards were contacted as well as 33 mayoral candidates via email.
Key takeaways:
- Most candidates are unaware of the full range of issues related to AI data centres. Many of the responses were limited to concerns on the lack of community benefits, noise pollution, and the environment. This indicates that while many candidates support putting a pause on AI data centre development for up to two years, this is not because they don’t want AI data centres. Multiple candidates explained that they don’t have a problem with AI or data centre development and instead support a pause to ensure that their development also comes with local community benefits, public consultation, and environmental considerations (e.g. solar panels and trees on the premises of the data centre site plan).
- While an ICBL is a local policy tool available to municipalities and can act as a temporary pause, it is not a long-term solution (lasts only two years) that addresses the root issue.
- Mayor Chow has not responded to any of our emails regarding concerns on AI data centres ever, despite repeated emails and calls on an ICBL for almost three months. While there are some social media posts circulating at the moment saying that she supports a pause on AI data centres (due to a survey by the Toronto Environmental Alliance), she has not once publically supported or mentioned an ICBL. During the mayoral debates, she has not taken a clear stance nor has she explained her position on data centres beyond a brief encounter with a reporter after one of the earlier mayoral debates where she briefly mentioned concerns on “data sovereignty” and “affordability”. She has persistently ignored the public’s concerns on AI data centres and diverted the issue during her campaign and time in office. Despite 8,000+ public comments submitted during the July 2026 City Council meeting, she gave no acknowledgement that these comments were received. AI data centres are one of the biggest concerns Torontonians have and yet she has decided to completely stay away from the issue.
Summary of responses
Below is a summary of the responses from candidates running for Toronto City Council. Responses were sent out asking candidates to give a clear “yes/no” response and rationale for why they would support passing an ICBL, if elected. The information is updated as of October 8th, 2026).
For municipal candidates' responses to the question 'Did they explicity say "yes" to an ICBL?', we used the following color codes to categorize their answers.
The municipal candidates who are not listed on this table have no stance on this issue or are uncertain about how they feel.
A reminder that, election day for Toronto’s 2026 municipal election is Monday, October 26 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eligible voters can find where to vote by using MyVote. For more information go to the City of Toronto website.
To see who is running, see the list here (tabs for candidates running for mayor (city-wide), councillor (by ward), and trustee (by School Board).
Finally, check out our Climate Voting Records Toronto webiste which assesses all incumbent councillors based on the number of times they voted 'yes' on climate-positive actions. Report cards are green (best) or, if they were frequently absent or voted 'no,' their report cards are yellow or red. Check your councillor’s report card grades by clicking on their headshot here: https://votingrecords.climatefast.ca/
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