Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Wed. September 2nd, 2026

We are on the precipice of an A.I. centre boom, as the City of Ottawa is drafting its policy on data centres. There's a new wave of facilities coming to power it, and now various towns are being left to deal with it. Last Wednesday, Ottawa City Council passed a motion, asking City Staff to create a framework for assessing data centres. The motion was put forward by Rideau-Vanier councillor Stéphanie Plante and tasks staff with developing a framework through which data centres can be assessed, based on their size and expected impact. Plante joins Kristy Cameron in Hour 1. Meantime, we don’t have the Fall forecast for Canada’s Capital, but we do know that a storm is about to hit. Doug Gillham joins us from his office at The Weather Network. But first, we bring you up to speed on today’s top headlines.