Nova Scotia protesters call for moratorium on AI data centre proposals

Nearly 1,000 Nova Scotians protested in downtown Halifax on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, calling for a moratorium on all large-scale AI data centre proposals in the province.

Protests across the province

Protesters gathered in front of the provincial legislature at noon, taking up an entire block of Hollis Street before marching through the city's downtown core. Organizers said the Halifax rally was one of at least seven protests planned across the province on Saturday.

The proposed project

The protest targets a proposed artificial intelligence data centre in southern Cape Breton. Proponent Everwind Fuels announced last month it plans to lease a data centre in Port Tupper, N.S., to U.S. AI company Anthropic. Everwind has described the $10-billion project as the largest private investment in provincial history.

Anthropic has signed a 20-year lease for the 18,600-square-metre facility, which it will use to power its AI assistant Claude. It is expected to come online in 2027 and draw 95 megawatts of electricity in its first phase. A 325-megawatt expansion is scheduled for mid-2028, bringing the total energy demand to 420 megawatts.

Concerns and responses

Ned Zimmerman, a tech worker from Dartmouth, N.S., and one of the organizers of the rally, said large-scale AI data centres are socially destructive and environmentally irresponsible.

"We feel that the push to integrate AI into everything raises a lot of concerns for society, and this is not the kind of thing that we want to see being imposed on our communities, on our landscapes, our ecosystems, and our populations," Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said provincial guidelines are not enough for a project of this scale, adding that communication from the provincial government has been sparse. He also said Everwind has not done enough to consult with communities about the data centre, demonstrating a lack of transparency and accountability.

"It was kept closely under wraps. And broader community consent, community consultation was not engaged until the project was announced," he said.

Everwind says it will cover the cost of all electricity infrastructure, and the project will not increase power rates for customers. A statement from Premier Tim Houston's office said the data centre will only proceed if it meets provincial and federal guidelines, which it noted includes protecting the water, the environment, power rates and capacity.

A petition to stop the development of AI data centres in Nova Scotia on Change.org garnered nearly 28,000 signatures.

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Sources

• thestar.com: Province-wide protests call for moratorium on AI data centre proposals in N.S.
• ca.finance.yahoo.com: Province-wide protests call for moratorium on AI data centre proposals in N.S.

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.