City of Hamilton's Interim Control By-law For Datacentre Development (Ontario, Canada)

Canada is seeing a surge of hyperscaler projects in Ontario. The City of Hamilton recently passed a datacentre moratorium and is now preparing an Interim Control By-law (ICBL) and a corresponding Datacentre Framework. This memo serves as a Risk-to-Policy Map to support City staff in being aware and intentional throughout the drafting of the ICBL and the development of the Framework. While the recommendations listed in this document are specifically drafted for ICBL, they can be considered as future amendments to other By-laws. This report maps risk findings for hyperscale datacentre proposals to specific policy actions the City can take under its jurisdiction, including zoning, by-laws, building permits, noise, traffic, stormwater, and transparency requirements. It ensures that the City’s response is evidence-based, people-first, and legally defensible.