A proposed CSE data centre in the Ottawa area would give Canada’s cyber intelligence agency more secure computing capacity, but the federal government has not yet approved the project. Defence Construction Canada issued an advance procurement notice last week, alerting design-builders to an upcoming contract. The Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE) says the facility would support its current and future operational needs.
The planned CSE data centre is large by Canadian standards, and it arrives at a time when communities across the country are debating how much power and land these facilities should take.
What the notice says about the CSE data centre
The notice, posted on a government contracting site, describes a 60-megawatt facility. That meets the City of Ottawa’s definition of “hyperscale,” which starts at 50 megawatts. The building would also include a small office space and a shipping and receiving area.
The notice is not a call for bids. It gives suppliers time to obtain the facility security clearance needed for a possible later bid to design and build the centre. No contract has been awarded, and the notice gives no start date for construction or date for the facility to open.
Approval and cost remain open
The Globe and Mail reported that the plan has not received Treasury Board approval and that the exact site has not been finalized. The notice itself says the government has not approved proceeding.
Published cost figures differ. The Globe, citing two sources with knowledge of the plan, put the cost at up to $1.85 billion. MobileSyrup and Yahoo News Canada used a $1.5 billion figure. The government has not published a cost, and HCN could not find an official figure. Until Ottawa releases one, the range should be treated as an unconfirmed estimate.
Why CSE says it needs the data centre
The Globe’s sources said the project responds to growing demands on CSE’s operations and to the government’s wish to keep sensitive data systems in Canada. A national security source said the need had been on CSE’s radar for some time, and that CSE’s current data centre was designed more than 15 years ago. These are unnamed-source accounts, not official statements. CSE’s own statement is more general. It placed the project within broader defence investments to modernize secure infrastructure for evolving threats. CSE added that it does not disclose operational or technical requirements beyond what is already public.
CSE is Canada’s signals intelligence and cyber security agency, and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security is part of it. In its 2025-26 annual report, released June 29, CSE said the Cyber Centre responded to more than 3,200 incidents affecting federal institutions and critical infrastructure. It also said 2025 defence investments are strengthening capabilities including classified cloud, artificial intelligence and post-quantum cryptography. The notice does not say what workloads the new centre would run.
What is confirmed and what is not
Several points about the CSE data centre are established by the notice and CSE’s statement. The project is proposed for the Ottawa area, it is described as 60 megawatts, CSE says it is for the agency’s use, and the government has not approved it.
Other points rest on less solid ground. The cost comes from reports, not an official document. The reasons for the project beyond CSE’s general statement come from unnamed sources. The site, the timeline, the workloads and the facility’s electricity and water needs have not been disclosed.
Local power and the Ottawa data centre debate
The project arrives while data centres are a live public issue. Yahoo News Canada reported that the average data centre requesting grid access this summer sought about 30 megawatts, roughly half this project’s size. Hydro Ottawa and Defence Construction Canada did not respond to its requests for comment.
In August, Ottawa city council directed staff to develop a framework for assessing data centre proposals, covering size, impact, community benefits and possible changes to the official plan. Ottawa launched its Responsible Data Centre Development Principles in September, setting five expectations for projects. Elsewhere, municipalities such as Mississauga have agreed to data centre moratoriums.
The sources HCN reviewed do not say how much electricity or water the CSE data centre would use, or whether it would be subject to the city’s new framework. Nor do they report any resident reaction so far. Any effect on nearby residents or the local grid is therefore unknown.
What to watch next
The next signals are Treasury Board approval, a final site, any formal call for bids and any disclosure of the project’s power and water needs from Hydro Ottawa or CSE.