Back to Search
Ward 4 Site Address
- 3110 South Service Rd.
In-person meeting with the project proponent.
Ask questions, learn more, and hear directly from the project team.
Date: Friday, Sept. 11, 2026
Time: 3 - 5 p.m.
Location: Shoreline, Art Gallery of Burlington, 1333 Lakeshore Rd, Burlington
Site plan approval is a step in the planning process that is used when a use is already permitted in the Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw. Site plan approval is a technical review process and not a public process which allows the City to review location and servicing details of the proposed building on the site, as well as proposed parking and landscaping and other technical considerations.
Applicant
| Powell Planning and Associates |
|---|
|
Applicant’s Representative: Powell Planning & Associates c/o Carly Murphy and Aimee Powell Phone: 819-743-6274 (Carly) / 647-828-2467 (Aimee) |
Proposed Development
The City has received an application for site plan approval for a proposed data centre on the former Mother Tucker’s/Tucker’s Marketplace site at 3110 South Service Rd.
Learn more about data centres...
The proposal includes a two-storey data centre with a gross floor area of approximately 5,163 square metres. A total of 136 parking spaces are proposed, including 52 surface parking spaces and 84 parking spaces within an underground parking level.
The facility is intended to provide secure colocation, cloud computing, data storage, network infrastructure, and data processing services for commercial and institutional users. The building is proposed to contain data halls, electrical and network rooms, mechanical support spaces, security monitoring facilities, office and staff support areas, loading and service areas, storage rooms, and other ancillary spaces required for the operation of the data centre.
The applicant has also advised that facility will require approximately 20 MW of electrical capacity and has been working with Burlington Hydro regarding the electrical servicing required to operate the facility.
Learn more about the Site Plan Application Process...
File Number
535-004/26
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is the proposed data centre at 3110 South Service Road an AI data centre? |
|
No. Based on the information provided, this is not an AI or hyperscale facility. The facility is intended to provide secure colocation, cloud computing, data storage, network infrastructure and data processing services for commercial and institutional users. This is generally known as a general-purpose data centre, not a facility purpose-built for artificial intelligence or AI. Colocation space can host many kinds of computing, so it can’t be ruled out that some customers might run AI workloads there. The application is for a two-storey data centre with a gross floor area of approximately 5,163 square metres (approximately 55,000 square feet) requiring around 17MW of electrical capacity (+3MW for general use) for a total of 20MW and will be air cooled. Large AI-focused or "hyperscale" campuses tend to be much larger. They tend to use 100MW or more, sometimes drawing 500+ MW, and frequently use water or liquid cooling to manage the heat that AI hardware produces. |
When is the deadline for the City to make a decision on the application? |
|
The City has until Friday, Sept. 4, 2026 to make a decision on the application. Under the Planning Act, the City has 60 days to review the application before the applicant has the right to appeal the application to the Ontario Land Tribunal for “non-decision”. The application was deemed complete by the City on July 6 and is currently under review by several City departments and external review agencies. |
How can I provide my feedback on this process? |
|
The City always wants to understand our community needs and concerns, generally, when it comes to our overall built environment. You can email your ward councillor with general feedback and email planning@burlington.ca with your feedback on the technical aspects of the development proposal. City staff will provide your feedback to the applicant for their awareness. A site plan application is not a public process under the Planning Act so a public meeting is not required. The City’s Official Plans and Zoning Bylaw already permit data centres which also means there is no requirement to hold a meeting to gather public input. That means feedback cannot influence the application’s approval, hours of operation or building use. Under the Planning Act, the review and approval of site plan applications is handled by City staff. During the review, staff will:
|
Can Council direct staff not to issue site plan approval? |
| No, the Planning Act requires that site plan decisions be delegated to staff rather than Council. Council doesn't have the legal authority to direct staff to refuse a site plan for a permitted use. The process will look at the technical details of how the building sits on the site, not whether the use is allowed. |
What happens if staff do not make a decision by the deadline? |
|
If staff haven't approved the plans within 60-days, the applicant can appeal the "non-decision" to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), an independent provincial body. If that happens, the OLT can step in and finalize the details of the plans and drawings itself. Missing the deadline doesn't stop the project, but it risks moving the decision away from the City to the OLT. |
Why is this decision delegated to staff rather than Council? |
| The Planning Act requires municipal councils to delegate site plan control decisions to staff. Through the adoption of the City’s Official Plan and Zoning Bylaws, Council addresses the question, “should this use be here?". The site plan process addresses the remaining technical details that make sure a permitted use can function properly on the property. |
Does the City of Burlington currently regulate the building of data centres? |
|
Data centres are regulated the way other permitted employment uses are and are reviewed through the City’s planning and building framework. The City regulates where data centres can be located using its Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw. They are considered an industrial use under "Information and Data Processing" zoning with "Office" use and are permitted in employment areas and employment zones in the City. They are permitted in BC1 and BC2 (Business Corridor) Zones GE1 and GE2 (General Employment) Zones. Under the zoning bylaw, they are not permitted in residential zones, mixed-use zones or commercial zones. Development, including new buildings are subject to site plan control. Through a site plan review application, the City confirms:
with input from Halton Region, Conservation Halton and Burlington Hydro. A building permit is also required and must meet Ontario Building Codes. |
Are there any comparable data centres in Burlington, Halton Region, or the GTHA that are similar in size? |
|
No. There are no standalone data centres in Burlington. In 1991, the City issued a building permit for “partitions for Bank of Montreal data centre” for the building at 3398 Harvester Rd. Across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, data centres are common: the Toronto market has roughly 82 facilities with about 5.2 million square feet and 441 megawatts (Source: Claude, Baxtel). |
Subscribe