Northern B.C. officials call for higher taxes on data centres

Municipal officials in northern British Columbia are asking the province to change tax rules so data centres are classified in a higher industrial tax bracket instead of as businesses. Mackenzie Mayor Joan Atkinson raised the issue after arguing that large facilities draw heavy amounts of electricity and can affect local communities, while bringing in less tax revenue than other industrial operations. Prince George Coun. Brian Skakun said he plans to bring a similar motion forward in his city. The debate comes as data centres expand across B.C. and Canada, driven in part by growing demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The facilities in Mackenzie and Prince George are operated by Iren, which says it supports efforts to assess taxable value and notes it is adding equipment that could raise that value over time.