City councillors in Sault Ste. Marie have rejected a proposal to halt new data center projects in the city following a 90-minute debate on Monday night. The discussion centered around a contentious cybersecurity and AI facility approved in December 2025 for the city’s west end. Led by Protexxa and Missanabie Cree First Nation, the project aims to utilize AI for cyber issue identification and resolution.
During the council meeting, Ward 3 Coun. Angela Caputo suggested an interim control bylaw to pause any new data center proposals until additional policies are established. However, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker and other councillors expressed reservations about certain details in the proposal, prompting Caputo to withdraw it.
Instead, a new motion is expected to be presented at the next meeting on Aug. 31, directing city staff to create a specific municipal framework for data centers with opportunities for public input. This motion is unlikely to impact the approved Protexxa data center project on Yates Avenue in the city-owned industrial park, pending the finalization of the property sale.
Mayor Shoemaker cautioned against categorizing all data centers uniformly, highlighting the distinction between “hyperscale” facilities that consume large amounts of power and smaller operations like Protexxa’s, which require significantly less energy. City officials confirmed that the existing power infrastructure can support the planned five-megawatt facility by Protexxa.
Peter Tonazzo, the city’s planning director, emphasized the presence of similar-sized server rooms in the city and reiterated that all data center proposals must undergo council review for zoning compliance. Shoemaker defended the decision-making process that approved the Protexxa project, highlighting the thorough consideration of infrastructure capacity and environmental factors.
While discussions continue on refining the approval process for data centers, Shoemaker underscored the importance of not undermining decisions made in previous council deliberations.