Meta to Build First Canadian Data Center in $13 Billion Bet on AI

Meta has announced construction of its first data center in Canada. The gigawatt-scale complex will be built in Sturgeon County, in the province of Alberta, north of Edmonton, at a cost exceeding $13 billion. It's further proof that the race for AI infrastructure is spilling beyond US borders and onto new energy-rich continents.

Project Scale

The Sturgeon County complex is Meta's 33rd data center worldwide, but its first on Canadian soil. The target capacity of one gigawatt roughly matches the energy demand of Edmonton itself, which consumes about 1.4 gigawatts. The scale of the investment ranks it among the largest industrial projects in the province's history.

Gas Power, Not Grid Power

The facility will be powered by a new gas plant, the Greenlight Electricity Centre, built jointly by Pembina Pipeline, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, and Kineticor Asset Management for $4.6 billion. The plant won't come online until the second half of 2030, so the Alberta Electric System Operator has temporarily allocated over 900 megawatts of capacity so the center can begin operating sooner.

Meta has committed to covering the full cost of the energy infrastructure tied to the project. The company also says the cooling system will be closed-loop and largely water-free, with water used only for fire suppression and equipment maintenance, not for cooling servers.

Local Pushback

The AI data center boom in Canada is drawing mixed reactions. Since 2024, around 70 proposals for such facilities have been filed across the country, but only a handful have actually broken ground. Some communities oppose the projects, citing water and energy consumption. Manitoba's premier rejected a similar project near Winnipeg, citing environmental concerns.

There's a big threat to the environment - Manitoba's premier, explaining the rejection of a similar project near Winnipeg

Part of a Global Expansion

The Alberta decision fits a broader trend of AI infrastructure moving beyond the United States, where access to land, energy, and permits is growing harder to secure. Meta is competing in this race with Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI, all of which are hunting for locations with cheap energy and favorable regulations.

For Canada, the project means billions in tax revenue and thousands of construction jobs, but also questions about who actually benefits from a tech hyperpower's presence in a farming region north of Edmonton. Local officials in Sturgeon County have announced investments in road infrastructure and support for nonprofits funded by Meta.

For Polish companies and local governments tracking the data center market, it's a sign of how much money, and how long an energy timeline, now accompanies building infrastructure for large AI models: the power plant serving the Canadian data center won't come online until four years after the project was announced.

Sources: CNBC (cnbc.com), The Globe and Mail (theglobeandmail.com), BNN Bloomberg (bnnbloomberg.ca)