Sexsmith Data Centre: County Rewrites the Rules After the Fact
A data centre permit near Sexsmith got stamped under a 2003 bylaw with no council vote and no neighbour notice. County of Grande Prairie now faces 107 appeals and a Monday rewrite — after the fact.
By Jason LaFace | Alberta Radio
Sunday, October 4, 2026
What the county approved
On Sept. 4, County of Grande Prairie issued a development permit for a "data processing establishment" on Emerson Trail southwest of Sexsmith, about 20 kilometres north of Grande Prairie, at 732041 Range Road 62. The file covers a data processing establishment, five accessory buildings, 15 generators and 15 cooling units — five buildings at 80 by 180 feet and 15 accessory generator structures at 8 by 20 feet.
It was approved administratively. Under the county's 2003 Land Use Bylaw, data processing establishments are a permitted use in rural medium industrial zoning. That means no council vote and no resident notification. The old rulebook never imagined warehouses full of servers and banks of generators humming beside acreages.
Who applied — and what it isn't
The applicant on the file is Tower Services and Contracting Ltd. The county has been clear that this is site-prep and building specs, not a named AI operator moving in tomorrow. Officials say there is no confirmed proponent yet to fill the building. A development permit is not a construction green light either: provincial approvals still sit ahead — energy, utilities, environment and grid connections among them.
Residents found out late
Sexsmith resident Josh Bourget, a business analyst who has lived in the area for 11 years, says he learned of the permit on social media days before the Sept. 25 appeal deadline. Noise, grid strain and home values top his list. The county's Sept. 23 public statement, which acknowledged the interest and floated an interim policy shift, felt like it arrived after the clock was already running.
Reeve Amanda McDonald has said the bylaw predates large-scale AI data centres, that council cannot revoke this permit, and that the file is now with the Land and Property Rights Tribunal. Alberta says the tribunal has received 107 appeals and must schedule a hearing within 30 days.
Monday's rewrite
Future data-centre applications, the county says under its interim policy, will go to the Municipal Planning Commission with circulation to surrounding residents. On Monday, Oct. 5, council meets to discuss removing data processing as a permitted use in industrial zones and creating a dedicated district instead.
That is the right instinct — put big industrial neighbours in front of elected people and the people who live next door. The problem is timing. Albertans keep seeing the same pattern: stamp first under yesterday's rules, then scramble to rewrite the rules once the trucks are metaphorically in the driveway. Property rights and investment certainty matter. So does not blindsiding rural communities with megawatts of load and diesel backup they never got a chance to speak to.
Alberta Radio will watch Monday's council meeting and the tribunal calendar as those 107 appeals move.
Source: Os1ris News Aggregation
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