City councillors in Sault Ste. Marie have rejected a proposal to pause new data center developments after a heated 90-minute debate on Monday night. This debate was sparked by a local petition opposing a cybersecurity training center and data center approved in December 2025 for the city’s west end. The project, a collaboration between cybersecurity firm Protexxa and Missanabie Cree First Nation, aims to utilize artificial intelligence for cyber issue detection and resolution.
During the council meeting, Ward 3 Coun. Angela Caputo suggested implementing an interim control bylaw, or a moratorium, to halt any new data center proposals until further policies and protocols were established. However, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker and other councillors expressed reservations about certain aspects of the proposal, leading Caputo to withdraw it.
It is now anticipated that a new motion will be presented at the upcoming meeting on Aug. 31, directing city staff to create a specific municipal framework for data centers in Sault Ste. Marie, which will involve public consultation opportunities. This decision is not expected to affect the already approved Protexxa data center project on Yates Avenue in the city’s industrial park, pending the completion of the property sale.
Shoemaker emphasized the need to distinguish between different types of data centers, cautioning against categorizing them all similarly. While some large-scale data centers consume significant resources, Protexxa’s plans for the Sault facility only require five megawatts of power, a fraction of the city’s total capacity. The mayor highlighted that the city’s electricity utility, PUC, has confirmed the ability to meet the demand for a facility of this size.
City officials also noted that the Sault already accommodates similar-sized server rooms for various uses and that any proposed data centers would undergo council scrutiny for rezoning. Shoemaker argued against a blanket moratorium on future data center proposals, pointing out that existing processes are in place to evaluate and reject impractical applications.
The mayor stressed the importance of improving existing processes while respecting past decisions, such as the approval of the Protexxa project, which underwent thorough review and consideration of infrastructure and environmental factors.