Data-center law in Ontario

Subnational jurisdiction · as of 2026-10-01

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The data-centre-specific provision in Ontario's statutes is section 28.1 of the Electricity Act, 1998, added by the Protect Ontario by Securing Affordable Energy for Generations Act, 2025, which bars a transmitter or distributor from connecting a data centre, or another facility above a regulated demand, to the grid unless the connection requirements set by regulation are met.

The section leaves the definition of a data centre, the criteria, the demand amount and the connection requirements to regulations, and no regulation made under it has been located.

The Government of Ontario's August 2026 Data Centre Playbook backgrounder describes data centres that meet thresholds to be set out in a future regulation under the Electricity Act as ones that would need approval to connect to the grid, and the Ministry of Energy and Mines' consultation of the same month proposes a separate rate class for large new data centres.

Land use, environmental review, water, construction and air-emission permitting run through general statutes, the Planning Act, the Environmental Assessment Act, the Ontario Water Resources Act, the Building Code Act, 1992 and the Environmental Protection Act, none of which refers to a data centre. The Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 makes section 28.1 enforceable by the Board and gives it priority over Board orders, codes and licences.

No data-centre incentive statute has been located, and the August 2026 backgrounder states that Ontario will compete on value, not incentives.

Instruments on record

1 instrument on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Energy and grid

What authorizations govern grid connection and onsite generation?

Electricity Act, 1998, exceptions for specified load facilities

In force

S.O. 1998, c. 15, Sched. A, s. 28.1

Effective 2025-12-11 · Applies to both

A transmitter or distributor may not connect a specified load facility to its transmission or distribution system, or reconnect one that was disconnected for breaching the specified connection requirements, unless it is satisfied that those requirements have been complied with.

A specified load facility is a facility or class of facilities that is a data centre meeting any criteria set in the regulations, or that withdraws electricity from the IESO-controlled grid or a licensed distributor's system, has a demand above the amount the regulations prescribe, and meets any other criteria the regulations set.

The specified connection requirements are the conditions, approvals and limitations the regulations specify, and the regulations may include criteria respecting economic development, job creation, anything provided for in the Act or any other matter the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers necessary or advisable. The section does not apply to a facility whose connection request was submitted under the Transmission System Code or the Distribution System Code before June 3, 2025.

Section 28.1 and any regulation made under it are enforceable provisions under the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998. Section 28.1 or a regulation made under it prevails over an order, code or licence issued by the Ontario Energy Board in the event of a conflict.

Source: Full text of law

Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.