Meta Platforms Inc. will invest $13 billion [1] to build an artificial-intelligence data centre in Sturgeon County, Alberta.
The investment marks the first time the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp has established an AI data centre in Canada. The facility is intended to support the company's growing artificial-intelligence workloads and represents its largest such project outside the U.S. [2], [3].
Located north of Edmonton, the site in Sturgeon County will serve as a hub for Meta's AI infrastructure [4]. A company corporate representative said, "Meta’s first AI data centre in Canada will be the largest outside the United States" [3].
Provincial officials have welcomed the move, emphasizing the potential for local economic growth. "This is a historic investment for Alberta and will create thousands of jobs," said an Alberta government spokesperson [5].
Despite the government's optimism, the project has met with some local resistance. "I hate it," said a local Albertan reacting to the proposal [5].
The $13 billion [1] project is designed to scale Meta's computing capabilities as the company integrates more AI features across its global platforms. The Alberta government said the move is a historic investment for the province's economy [5].
“"This is a historic investment for Alberta and will create thousands of jobs,"”
Meta's decision to place its largest non-U.S. AI hub in Alberta signals a strategic shift toward diversifying its physical infrastructure. By selecting Sturgeon County, the company leverages Alberta's economic environment to support the massive energy and computing demands of generative AI, while the provincial government gains a high-profile victory in attracting big tech investment to the region.
