Sustainable by design: Water stewardship in SSC’s enterprise data centres
Each year, March 22 marks World Water Day and highlights the importance of fresh water and the need to use it responsibly. It is also a reminder that water plays a practical role in the technology Canadians rely on every day.
At Shared Services Canada (SSC), we aim to safeguard natural resources and energy while ensuring the reliability of digital services. That is why we use innovative approaches to manage heat in our enterprise data centres (EDC). These modern facilities store Government of Canada (GC) data and applications that support the programs and services Canadians rely on.
Efficient technology powering greener solutions
The servers in our EDCs generate significant heat as they process and store large volumes of data. Managing this heat efficiently is essential to maintaining reliable operations. To do so sustainably, we use cutting-edge cooling solutions that reduce environmental impacts while maintaining performance.
All of our modern EDCs are certified LEED® Silver or higher through the Canada Green Building Council or meet an equivalent standard. As a result of its innovative design, one of our EDCs does not require potable water to cool the building. This facility uses rainwater to meet 100% of its landscaping needs and 50% of its sewage requirements, significantly reducing demand on the municipal water system. These measures help reduce the GC’s carbon footprint while providing secure and reliable hosting services.
This approach reflects SSC’s broader commitment to sustainable operations. SSC’s Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy outlines how our organization integrates sustainability into the way it designs, operates and modernizes Government of Canada IT infrastructure.
“Sustainability is built into how we plan and modernize government IT—from the infrastructure we run to the decisions we make about how it’s operated. Our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy helps us stay focused, transparent and accountable as we do that work.”
High standards for sustainable operations
Our commitment to sustainability is reflected in our high standards for green operations, including:
- sustainable purchasing, such as prioritizing products with ecolabels
- reducing water use
- closing less-efficient legacy hosting sites
Preparing for the future of computing
As Canada’s computing needs continue to grow, including high-performance and AI-enabled workloads, cooling requirements will evolve. Advanced solutions, such as liquid cooling, will become increasingly important in modern hosting environments where traditional air-based cooling systems may not be sufficient. SSC teams are planning for these advancements to ensure our facilities remain efficient, cost-effective and environmentally responsible.
By continuously improving how we manage critical resources like energy and water, we not only ensure reliable government digital services but also contribute to Canada’s broader sustainability goals. This is what we do to build a greener digital government.