This story is being published in collaboration with The Tyee, an award-winning independent media outlet based in BC.
The artificial intelligence strategy announced by Mark Carney in early June promised to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, boost Canadian productivity and help domestic AI companies, with “a clear goal of improving the lives of all Canadians,” according to the prime minister.
But a top advisory body to Carney’s Liberal government has also quietly identified another policy goal that wasn’t mentioned in the hotly anticipated “AI for All” roadmap. One of the top “public policy benefits to Canada” of constructing a national network of data centres is creating new markets for Canadian natural gas producers.
An internal Privy Council document from 2025 explained that the build-out of vast electricity-consuming data centres across the country can “provide markets for Canadian energy” and lead to “net new energy resources.”
The document, entitled “Investments in Canadian Data Centres”, was obtained by Greenpeace Canada and shared with DeSmog and The Tyee following a release under the Access to Information Act. It was prepared for the Clerk of the Privy Council, one of the top advisors to Prime Minister Carney.
