The numbers Canada's data centre principles ask for
On 3 September 2026 the Government of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities published five principles for data centre development, and 23 companies signed. The principles are addressed to developers and operators, not to suppliers like us. But two of the five ask for measurement, and the measuring happens in the equipment we build. This page says what we measure, where, and who signs, on every project we deliver in Canada.
The two principles that ask for numbers
Principle 3. Data centres must minimize water use and environmental impacts, prioritizing "closed-loop or high efficiency water technologies, waste heat recovery, and low-emission energy sources," with water consumption and environmental impacts "measured and transparently reported using recognized standards."
Principle 4. Data centres must be transparent about local impacts, providing "clear, project-appropriate and independently verifiable information on expected local impacts, including power and water use, infrastructure requirements, sound and emissions."
The principles are voluntary, and neither of these two says who produces the figures or what the record should contain. That part falls to whoever builds and commissions the cooling system. Source: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
What we hand over, per site, per year
We specify the meters and draw the boundary, so the first year starts from a commissioning baseline rather than an estimate. These are the lines we hand over; the operator reports against the same boundary in the years after.
- IT load and facility overhead at the point of connection
- Metering boundary drawn on a single-line diagram
- PUE measured over the year at that boundary, not designed on paper
- Cooling power metered separately from IT, so the overhead is attributable
- Litres withdrawn and consumed, by source
- WUE in litres per kWh of IT, measured, with the year stated
- For closed loops: make-up volume and peak-day withdrawal
- Days per year any evaporative assist runs, and the electricity dry cooling uses instead
- MW available at the site boundary, and at what temperature
- MWh actually delivered to a named receiver, metered at the boundary
- What happens to the heat in months the receiver cannot take it
- Zero is an honest number where no receiver exists yet, and we say so
- Who measured, at what load, in what period
- Which standard: ISO/IEC 30134 for PUE, WUE and ERF
- Who signed: on our projects, the commissioning agent
- Where the record lives: in the turnover package, indexed by boundary
Why a supplier publishes this
Municipalities are being asked to assess projects against the principles. Most have no sheet to read. We published one, for any proponent to use, and we hold ourselves to it on every Canadian project. A council, a utility or a heat receiver should be able to answer the four questions above from our records without us in the room.
Guide for municipal staff. Reading a Data Centre's Power, Water and Heat Numbers (PDF, four pages), ending in a fourteen-line evidence schedule that can be attached to a development agreement. Free to copy and adapt, with or without attribution.
Questions this page answers
What do Canada's Responsible Data Centre Development Principles require on water and heat?
Principle 3 asks projects to prioritize closed-loop or high-efficiency water technologies, waste heat recovery and low-emission energy, and to measure and report water use and environmental impacts to recognized standards. Principle 4 asks for independently verifiable information on local impacts, including power and water use. The principles are voluntary; 23 companies signed on 3 September 2026. What our turnover package records →
How can a municipality verify a data centre's water and heat claims?
Ask for measured values at a stated boundary, not design values: annual water withdrawn and consumed, WUE in litres per kWh of IT, heat delivered in MWh to a named receiver, and PUE over the year, each signed by a party independent of the proponent. Write the list into the development agreement so every proponent answers the same questions. Who signs, and when →
Does closed-loop cooling mean a data centre uses no water?
No. Closed loops still take make-up water for leaks, sampling and fluid replacement, and some designs add evaporative assist on the hottest days. Ask for make-up volume, peak-day withdrawal and the days per year any evaporative assist runs, and ask for the electricity that dry cooling uses instead of water. Why the loop temperature matters →