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 non-incumbent and incumbent 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 and the public have and 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.
In total, 42 candidates have so far responded saying that they support an ICBL on AI data centres, including:
Ward 1 - Chloe Brown
Ward 1 - Nathan Mazri
Ward 4 - Debbie King
Ward 4 - Diana Chan McNally
Ward 4 - Bridget Ogundipe
Ward 4 - Vanessa Raponi
Ward 4 - Holly Weber
Ward 5 - Chiara Padovani
Ward 8 - Enzo Torrone
Ward 9 - Alejandra Bravo
Ward 10 - Andi Hoàng-Lefranc
Ward 10 - Ausma Malik
Ward 10 - Paul Nash
Ward 11 - Mike Layton
Ward 11 - Gian Pileri
Ward 11 - Paul Viret
Ward 11 - Diana Yoon
Ward 13 - Tom Cai
Ward 13 - Victoria Davis
Ward 13 - Chris Moise
Ward 13 - Curran Stikuts
Ward 14 - Sara Ehrhardt
Ward 14 - George Fawcett
Ward 14 - Mary Fragedakis
Ward 14 - Michael Mitchell
Ward 14 - Jason Stevens
Ward 14 - Denise Walcott
Ward 15 - Sheena Sharp
Ward 17 - Hassan Mubarak Noor Mohamed
Ward 17 - Roy Samathana
Ward 19 - James Dann
Ward 19 - Nate Erskine-Smith
Ward 19 - Mohammad Shabani
Ward 19 - Adam Smith
Ward 19 - Jeff Wahl
Ward 19 - Jennie Worden
Ward 20 - Parthi Kandavel
Ward 20 - Sharmina Nasrin
Ward 20 - Kevin Rupasinghe
Ward 21 - Taiba Ahmed
Ward 21 - Krissan Veerasingam
Ward 22 - Dan Lovell
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/