06/04/2026
Due to the completely dysfunctional method of selecting speakers at the Committee of Adjustment meeting this morning at City Hall, the Labour Council did not get to make a delegation to the committee even though we had attempted to register in advance, which apparently was not the standard practice.
We certainly are not suggesting that we should have been given preference over any of the other eloquent and excellent speakers who brought forward many points of view on the land severance before the committee today. We are concerned however, that some people who could have spoken may not have had the opportunity to because of the complete lack of management of a speaker's list.
That said, we are including the comments that we would have made to the committee below and want to recognize the incredible working class solidarity that showed up this morning to fight for something they believed in.
-----
Good morning, members of the Committee. My name is Anthony Marco, and I am the President of the Hamilton and District Labour Council. I am here today representing the collective voice of 50,000 thousand workers across this city. We are here to address File B-2026-00011 regarding the severance of 188 acres of the former Stelco lands. While this is presented to you as a rather routine administrative severance, we believe this is a precedent-setting moment for the economic legacy of Hamilton’s waterfront. We are asking you to recognize that land-use decisions are, first and foremost, human decisions.
I understand that the Committee’s mandate today is limited to the mechanics of this severance. However, a severance is not a neutral act; it is the fundamental 'first step' that defines the future of this land. By approving this division, you are establishing the conditions under which this site will be developed for decades to come. If the planning framework for data centers is still under study by City Council, it is premature to finalize this severance. Once this land is partitioned and detached from the broader site, the city loses its leverage to demand a higher and better use. I urge you to look beyond the administrative checklist and recognize that this decision is a gatekeeper for the economic character of our waterfront.
I want to draw your attention to a simple but critical statistic that defines the future of our industrial land: the 10:1 ratio. Industry benchmarks are clear: for every 10,000 square feet of floor space, a modern manufacturing or logistics facility supports 10 to 20 permanent, living-wage jobs. A data center, by contrast, is a highly automated 'black box' that supports only 1 to 2. By endorsing this severance and paving the way for a potential data center campus of this scale, you are implicitly endorsing a 10:1 loss in
human-based economic activity. This ratio applies directly to our income tax revenue. When we trade industrial capacity for server racks, we are choosing to shrink our potential income tax base by a factor of ten.
To be clear, economic development in our city is based on decent work and life cycle jobs provided to the community. If this facility expects decades of operation with a huge footprint on these lands, should we not expect that the jobs created will be compensatory with the life cycle of proposed use and not just the relatively short building phase. The applicants may point to the billions being spent or the thousands of construction hours expected. Do not be misled.
Construction is an essential, but short-term blip in the 40+ year life of this site. Furthermore, we must dispel the myth that the construction phase of a data center is a unique gift to our city. Any industrial use of this scale, whether it be advanced manufacturing or a high-density hub, will require significant construction labour. In fact, a traditional industrial facility would likely be more complex, require a broader mix of local trades, and sustain a longer, more labour-intensive build process. We are being asked to settle for the 'entry fee' of temporary construction while giving away the 'long-term prize' of stable, permanent employment.
It is clear that staff has done what it can with its limited toolset to make requests and place conditions on this severance, but I propose that we’re missing a tool. Modern industry and builds are relying more and more on automation which is reducing the number of jobs and exponentially increasing the amount of resource strain on the surrounding community. To
treat these new enterprises in the same way we used to build factories is simply not equitable for Hamiltonians.
How does a build, like a data centre, ensure hundreds, if not thousands, of career-driven jobs for our community where the worker income taxes feed back into a revenue loop that funds our public services and meets the needs of our families? 50 jobs won’t do that. A massive draw on water and electrical systems that already face brownouts and pipe bursts in residential areas won’t do that.
As the Labour Council, our ask is clear:
1. Defer this decision: Put this severance on hold until the City’s broader data center framework is finalized. It is premature to sever this land before we have clear standards.
2. Mandate a Community Benefit Agreement: If this project proceeds, it must be subject to a binding agreement that compensates the city for the permanent loss of industrial capacity, including direct contributions to local skills training.
Hamilton was built by the grit and labour of its people. We must ensure our future is built the same way. It’s admirable that the conditions in this severance report protect trees and birds. Maybe it’s time we included the conditions necessary to protect our community members as well. Until staff have the tools or policies necessary to integrate conditions of this nature, I
would suggest any step forward is premature.
Even if this severance proceeds, please consider the lack of necessary impact that today’s, and future, industries have on decent work in our community and put the pieces in place to help ensure that the capital potential of any corporate project is compensatory with benefits for the communities which house them.
