Meta to build $13B data centre north of Edmonton, its first in Canada

The future site of a Meta data centre in Sturgeon County, Alta. on July 8, 2026. (Sean McClune/CTV News Edmonton)

The tech behemoth behind Facebook and Instagram says it plans to make Alberta home to its first artificial intelligence data centre in Canada, and its largest outside the United States.

Meta announced Wednesday that the $13-billion-plus project is to be built in Sturgeon County, in the Industrial Heartland region north of Edmonton. The one-gigawatt data centre will be powered by a natural gas-fired plant to be built by a consortium that includes Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Ltd.

“We believe that the success of a data centre is only possible when the community itself succeeds along with it. More than that, we want Sturgeon County and Alberta to thrive,” Gary Demasi, vice-president of data centre strategy and development at Meta, told a news conference in Calgary.

“We look forward to putting down roots in this community and building a strong and positive partnership for many years to come.”

Data centres house the computing hardware needed for a wide array of tech applications. With the boom in artificial intelligence, the facilities have grown to mind-boggling scales, often requiring enough electricity to power a whole city. With the dizzying growth of the data centre industry have come concerns over water use, pollution and the cost and availability of power in nearby communities.

Meta says its project is to feature a closed-loop water cooling system so it won’t draw water from the surrounding area. It also said it plans to spend $60 million to improve local infrastructure, such as roads and water systems.

Alberta has been actively looking to court hyperscalers like Meta to set up shop in the province, setting up a “concierge” service to help navigate the regulatory process. In late 2024, Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish said Alberta hoped to have $100 billion in data centres under construction in five years.

But its electricity grid currently does not have enough capacity to accommodate several such projects. So Alberta is prioritizing projects that build or contract their own power generation, as Meta is planning to do.

Meta’s announcement is a “big deal for Alberta,” Glubish said Wednesday.

“We didn’t do it by accident. We did it by design. We did in a way that is going to benefit Albertans,” he said.

“We did not want to be first and rush in blindly. We wanted to be smartest to ensure that we had a fair, reasonable, clear regulatory framework so that anybody who wants to build a data centre here knows exactly what to expect, exactly what they need to do, and every Albertan can be confident that their interests are protected and that they will benefit from this investment.”

Sturgeon County is becoming an “important part of Canada’s emerging AI and power corridor,” said mayor Alanna Hnatiw.

“And that brings opportunity, and it also brings with it responsibility,” she said.

“I am so pleased that Meta has embraced the environmental standards in our designated industrial zone and that they are willing participants in our approach to responsible land stewardship.”

Last week, Pembina Pipeline, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor Asset Management announced they had decided to go ahead with their Greenlight Electricity Centre in Sturgeon County. At the time they did not disclose the customer, which on Wednesday was revealed to be Meta.

They expect their 932-megawatt power project will cost them $4.6 billion to build, with startup targeted for the second half of 2030. The companies have permits that would allow them to double capacity down the line.

Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, called for a moratorium on “megadata centres” until there are legislated environmental and human rights protections on AI.

“We’re seeing these kinds of promises made all by AI data centre proponents around the world, but the reality is that these are billionaires trying to steal our water and pollute the air so they can double our electricity while taking away our jobs.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2026.

The Canadian Press