Thousands of Sherbrooke, Que., residents have signed a petition against a proposed mega data centre that they say is being pushed to fruition by the municipal council with little transparency.

Residents are concerned about the environmental impact and noise of the project. They want environmental studies, public debate and are questioning the wisdom of allowing a U.S.-backed company to build a massive data centre in their backyard.

Jayson Roy is one of the residents behind the petition, which has collected more than 4,500 signatures. He says the city is cherry-picking the project's supposed benefits, dismissing specific concerns and ignoring the larger picture.

"It's so much more than that," he told CBC's Quebec AM. "It goes above and beyond these individual little problems."

The City of Sherbrooke is advancing the deal with Keel Infrastructure, an American company formerly known as Bitfarms. Earlier this month, city council approved the conditional sale of land on Industriel Boulevard to the company.

For many residents, the conditional sale feels like history repeating itself after previous cryptocurrency operations by the same company drew criticism over noise and energy consumption.

LISTEN | Residents call for transparency:

Quebec AM7:05

The City of Sherbrooke is continuing to face backlash over the sale of a plot of land to Keel Infrastructure. A petition against the project has garnered more than 4-thousand signatures so far. Quebec AM guest host Rachel Watts caught up with one of the residents behind the petition, Jayson Roy, to find out more.

Roy said while the mayor seems focused on disproving individual concerns, it's not just about drinking water or noise — it's the way the process was handled. He said the city is moving ahead with the new facility without any discussion with residents.

"Everything was done behind closed doors," Roy said. He said he tried to obtain documents from the city clerk regarding studies and development, but the plans were confidential.

Roy, who works in the tech industry, also raised concerns about digital sovereignty. He said it might be different if a Quebec or Canadian company were behind the project, rather than generating revenue for a foreign business.

"I don't know what should be done, but I know that this isn't what I want in my city," said Roy.

Deal isn't finalized, city says

In response to the criticism, Sherbrooke officials have pushed back against claims the deal is finalized.

Mayor Marie-Claude Bibeau said the conditional approval is simply a mandate for the city to negotiate the sale of an enclaved lot in an industrial zone, not authorization to build.

Municipal leaders point to the financial stakes involved. Electricity sales through Hydro-Sherbrooke generate about $18 million in annual revenue for the city, an amount equivalent to a seven per cent tax increase for local ratepayers.

"Obviously this is very interesting financially for the residents of Sherbrooke," Bibeau said of the project.

The company now has 180 days to complete the necessary studies, finalize its business plan and meet the conditions imposed by the city.

Bibeau said modern closed-circuit cooling systems using distilled water and glycol will minimize drinking water waste, while the industrial location will help mitigate noise.

She added that high-powered backup generators would run only during peak winter periods when Hydro-Sherbrooke requests the facility reduce demand on the grid.

"All social, noise and environmental impact studies will have to be conducted. No blank cheque has been given," Bibeau said.

In reponse to the criticism over previous bitcoin mining facilities, she said this facility would produce far less noise than a cryptocurrency mining operation and would be located in an industrial area.

However, several steps remain before the city approves the project, including consultations with Hydro-Québec and Hydro-Sherbrooke.

On digital sovereignty, Bibeau said it is important for any country to have the capacity to host data domestically and for municipalities to help build that capacity.

Keel says public information session planned

However, not every elected official supports the project. Three councillors from Sherbrooke Citoyen, a municipal political party, opposed the initial steps. Fernanda Luz, councillor for the Carrefour district, criticized the lack of transparency.

"Even for this first step, we needed much more information and even a public debate," Luz told Radio-Canada.

Keel Infrastructure said in a statement it is aware of the petition and understands residents have questions. The company said the project is expected to require "very limited" potable water because its cooling system operates as a closed-loop system that does not require water input or output.

The company also said the data centre will not lead to an increase in electricity consumption. It says it will be closing its other facilities and consolidating and transferring 96 megawatts of existing electrical capacity to the new site rather than requesting new power generation or additional capacity.

Keel said it plans to hold a public information session this fall and disputed comparisons with its previous cryptocurrency mining operations in Sherbrooke. It said those facilities remain in operation and that while noise concerns were raised several years ago, the company worked with the city on mitigation measures.

The company said those concerns have not been an issue for several years and argued the proposed data centre should be evaluated on its own merits as more information becomes available.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Isaac Olson is a journalist with CBC Montreal. He worked largely as a newspaper reporter and photographer for 15 years before joining CBC in the spring of 2018.

With files from Rachel Watts, Quebec AM and Radio-Canada

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The Centre culturel de l’Université de Sherbrooke will host the fourth Journée sur les disruptions de l’IA en communication et marketing on Sept. 29. Photo: Zbeen1329/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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The Université de Sherbrooke will bring students and industry professionals together Sept. 29 for what the university describes as Quebec’s first artificial-intelligence hackathon focused on marketing communications, as organizations across the Eastern Townships continue developing rules and practices around the rapidly growing technology.

The hackathon is part of the fourth edition of the university’s Journée sur les disruptions de l’IA en communication et marketing, organized by its Department of Communication and Department of Marketing.

The event will take place at the Centre culturel on the university’s main Sherbrooke campus.

Teams will tackle a real non-profit’s communications needs

The morning hackathon will bring together more than 18 teams, according to the university.

Teams made up of students and professionals from industry and communications agencies will work on a marketing communications challenge for a regional non-profit organization.

The organization’s identity is expected to be revealed on the day of the event.

Participants will be asked to conduct a communications-marketing audit and develop strategies and recommendations using artificial intelligence. The university says teams will also have access to an AI agent trained using information from the participating organization.

The university describes it as the first AI hackathon focused on marketing communications in Quebec.

The hackathon is scheduled from 9 to 11:30 a.m.

Ethics, AI agents and the limits of the technology

The rest of the day will include conferences, practical workshops and round-table discussions examining how AI is being used in communications and marketing.

Topics include analyzing communications strategies with AI, the growing use of AI agents and ethical questions surrounding the technology.

Agentic AI generally refers to systems designed to pursue goals and complete multi-step tasks with less step-by-step human direction than conventional AI tools.

The program also includes a late-afternoon presentation by Université de Sherbrooke neurosurgeon David Fortin titled “Le grand mirage : pourquoi l’IA ne peut remplacer l’humain et ne sera jamais consciente,” or “The great mirage: why AI cannot replace humans and will never be conscious.”

AI rules already taking shape in the Townships

The event comes as artificial intelligence becomes a larger issue for institutions across the Eastern Townships.

The Pulse reported this week that the Eastern Townships School Board is developing an AI framework as it considers how the technology should be used in education.

At the board’s Sept. 22 meeting, Chair Michael Murray described AI as a “transformative moment in education” and discussed the growing capabilities of AI tutors and agents.

The board’s work is based on four principles developed by employees: “People First,” “Enhance, Don’t Replace,” “Use AI Responsibly” and “Learn and Grow Together.”

The framework is expected to address areas including approved tools, legal and ethical requirements and guidelines for AI use.

Municipal governments are also beginning to set their own rules.

In February, The Pulse reported that Bromont had adopted a responsible-AI policy covering issues including privacy, human oversight, transparency and approved tools.

The policy also states that decisions with legal, administrative, financial or rights-related consequences cannot be made solely on the basis of AI-generated results.

AI is affecting the region in other ways as well. The Pulse has reported on Keel Infrastructure’s proposed 96-megawatt Sherbrooke data centre, which the company says could support high-performance computing and artificial-intelligence workloads. The project remains subject to further conditions and approvals.

The Université de Sherbrooke event brings the discussion to another area: how AI can be incorporated into everyday professional work while addressing questions about ethics, oversight and the role of humans.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 29 at the Centre culturel de l’Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 boul. de l’Université. The main program begins at 9 a.m., with awards and a closing cocktail scheduled after the afternoon sessions.

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Key Takeaways

Keel Infrastructure (NASDAQ: KEEL) has secured municipal approval to consolidate 96 megawatts of power currently used by three bitcoin mining facilities into a planned high-performance computing and artificial intelligence data center campus in Sherbrooke, Québec.

The City of Sherbrooke approved Keel entering into an agreement with municipal utility Hydro-Sherbrooke to transfer and operate the existing capacity at a new location. The company also received approval to recategorize the power from bitcoin mining to HPC and AI use. The transfer still requires review and approval from Québec’s Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy.

Keel said it did not request any additional electricity for the project, potentially making the development easier to accommodate within Québec’s constrained power system. Instead, the company plans to relocate capacity already allocated to its operations and combine it at a single campus.

The company also entered into an agreement to purchase a parcel of land about 100 miles east of Montréal. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to site inspections, feasibility work, municipal approvals and other customary conditions.

Keel did not disclose the purchase price, expected development cost, construction schedule or whether it has secured a customer for the campus. Those omissions mean the project remains at an early development stage despite the municipal approval.

The 96 MW is currently spread across Keel’s three Sherbrooke bitcoin mining facilities: the 48 MW Bunker site, the 30 MW Leger site and the 18 MW Garlock site. All three properties were leased and operating as bitcoin mining facilities as of late March, according to the company’s annual filing.

Consolidating the sites would allow Keel to preserve its existing power entitlement while replacing purpose-built bitcoin mining infrastructure with a larger campus designed for denser and more valuable computing workloads.

The distinction between transferring existing capacity and requesting new power is significant in Québec, where provincial authorities have become more selective about allocating electricity to large industrial users.

In February, Québec issued a decree directing the provincial energy regulator to treat cryptocurrency mining as having lower strategic and economic value than traditional data centers. Keel said in its annual report that the policy also called for the tariff applied to cryptocurrency mining to be increased to a higher rate.

Recategorizing the Sherbrooke capacity for HPC and AI could therefore improve both the regulatory position and long-term economics of the assets. Final approval from the provincial ministry, however, remains a key condition before the power can be transferred to the new site.

Philippe Fortier, Keel’s executive vice president of corporate development, described the city approvals as “an important step forward” and said the project would be among the larger data center developments in Québec. That description has not been independently verified.

Sherbrooke represents Keel’s largest identified Canadian HPC development opportunity. As of March 27, the company reported 170 MW of energized capacity in Québec, including 96 MW in Sherbrooke, 22 MW in Baie-Comeau and 52 MW across four smaller sites.

The project also advances the transformation of the former Bitfarms business from a bitcoin miner into an AI infrastructure developer.

Bitfarms completed its U.S. redomiciliation and rebranded as Keel Infrastructure on April 1. At the time, the company said it intended to operate as a developer and owner of energy-secured sites and data centers for AI and HPC customers. Keel became the parent company of Bitfarms, with its shares beginning to trade under the KEEL ticker in April.

The Sherbrooke plan is one of the clearest examples of that strategy because it involves moving an entire operating mining portfolio into a single proposed AI data center rather than adding a smaller HPC deployment alongside existing mining operations.

The municipal approvals reduce some of the project’s early development risk, but Keel must still obtain provincial authorization, complete its land acquisition, finalize site studies and secure the capital and customers needed to build the campus.

This article was generated with the support of our AI agent, which has been rigorously trained under the supervision of well-qualified journalists. While we strive for the highest quality in every article, if you find anything amiss, please contact us to let us know.