Few dozen protesters gather at City Hall against data centre expansion across Alberta

A few dozen protesters gathered Saturday morning at Calgary City Hall as part of a North American Day of Protest Against Data Centres, with simultaneous rallies in Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Grande Prairie.

Alberta Anti-AI organized the Calgary event. Coordinator Jenna Abbas said: "There's such a rush to build these data centers, very little environmental assessments going on, and a lot of information is being hidden from the public." She attributed the small turnout to short notice and organizers being out of town but said the group's core message — awareness of data-centre impacts — still landed.

Protester Jane Kubke, who lives in Calgary, expressed skepticism about industry claims of water recycling. "I'm not buying this closed-loop water story," she said. "No one's giving us a clear number of the number of litres." Kubke noted Alberta's Alberta Water Council was disbanded, leaving fewer oversight mechanisms for water-heavy industrial projects in drought-prone regions.

Jen Allore, a Chestermere resident, raised concerns about a proposed data centre near her community. "There's this beautiful wetland that runs through this one gap along the east side of Chestermere, and the idea of putting this big concrete building in the middle of that, where I have seen grouse, pheasants, moose, all these things that move through there," Allore said, expressing worries about habitat and water usage.

Some protest signs read "Water for People Not Data Centres" and "Don't Let Creativity Die." Protesters raised concerns about noise and light pollution beyond water demands. Abbas said the core issue is opaque decision-making: "The actual impacts that these data centers are going to bring to our environment and to our social lives and communities — it's not clear at all to the public."

One proposed data centre near Olds was denied by the Alberta Utilities Commission over proximity to residences. A Vulcan County rezoning decision tied to another project is subject to judicial review.