Canada’s cyber intelligence agency is planning the construction of a large new data centre in the Ottawa area at an estimated cost of up to $1.85-billion.
The new data centre will address growing demands on the operations of the Communications Security Establishment, the federal agency that provides tech security and foreign signals intelligence, as well as fulfill the government’s desire to onshore sovereign data systems, according to two sources with knowledge of the plan.
The federal government recently posted an advance procurement notice alerting the private sector that it intends to post a contracting opportunity early next year for a new data centre on the Ottawa side of the National Capital Region.
The new data centre is planned to be a 60-megawatt facility, placing it among the country’s larger data centres.
A national security source with knowledge of the project said the need for another data centre has been on CSE’s radar for some time. The agency’s capabilities and computing needs have increased in the face of a rapidly changing technological landscape and the proliferation of threats, the source said. CSE’s current data centre was designed over 15 years ago. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
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The notice does not specify which department would use the data centre, but in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail, a CSE spokesperson said it will be for the agency’s use.
“CSE operates highly specialized systems that support Canada’s national security, foreign intelligence, cyber defence and secure Government of Canada operations. These activities require dedicated infrastructure designed to meet unique security, resilience and performance requirements,” said CSE spokesperson Janny Bender Asselin.
A senior government source, whom The Globe is not naming because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, said there is also a play for greater strategic autonomy.
While the procurement notice does not directly mention data sovereignty, the government has made several pledges over the past year signalling that securing and onshoring data systems is a high priority.
A document published last month by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada said building data centre capacity in Canada “can help strengthen Canada’s digital and economic sovereignty,” and “also help ensure critical computing capabilities and data remain in Canada.”
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Prime Minister Mark Carney also referenced digital sovereignty during an announcement related to artificial intelligence in June.
“Where is the government of Canada going to hold your data and our national security data? It is going to hold it in Canada,” he said.
Data centres can be used to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence tools. But their proliferation has faced community pushback in some cases given that they often require substantial resources, including electricity and sometimes water.
The Globe recently published an interactive map of data centres across the country. According to that tool, the proposed CSE facility’s 60 MW capacity would be among the largest projects in Canada that are currently operating, but is smaller than many other announced data centre projects, several of which have a capacity of 200 MW or more.
For context, Meta Platforms Inc. announced in July that it plans to spend $13-billion on a 1-gigawatt data centre facility north of Edmonton.
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The CSE data centre plan has not yet received Treasury Board approval.
The precise site for the data centre has not been finalized.
“To protect national security and the integrity of its operations, CSE does not disclose specific operational or technical requirements beyond what is publicly available,” the CSE’s spokesperson said.
The CSE headquarters is located east of Ottawa’s downtown, across the street from the headquarters of Canada’s spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
The two buildings are surrounded by residential neighbourhoods.
The CSE statement linked the planned contract to an announcement last month in which Ottawa launched a new framework for the responsible development of data centres.
The guidelines state that data centres must create lasting local benefits; must not shift electricity costs to Canadians; must minimize water use and environmental impacts; must be transparent about local impacts; and must bring strategic value to Canada.
The national security source told The Globe the data centre project is possible now because of the Carney government’s significant increase in defence spending. The CSE falls under the Department of National Defence.
The source said the CSE project will enhance Canada’s independent intelligence capabilities, but emphasized there is no scenario where Canadian intelligence data would have been processed or stored outside of the country.
The planned procurement will be led by Defence Construction Canada, a federal Crown corporation that provides contracting and construction contract management for Canada’s defence requirements.
With reports from Dexter McMillan in Toronto