Meta Platforms Inc. will invest $13 billion [1] to build an artificial intelligence data centre in Sturgeon County, Alberta, it said Wednesday.
The project represents Meta's first data centre in Canada and signals a massive expansion of the company's AI computing infrastructure. Because the facility requires significant power, the move has sparked immediate debate regarding the province's energy grid and sustainability goals.
The facility will be located north of Edmonton in central Alberta [2]. According to the announcement, the site will feature a power capacity of one gigawatt [3]. This scale of energy consumption is typical for the latest generation of AI-focused hardware, which requires immense processing power to train and deploy large language models.
Premier Danielle Smith and Meta executives announced the project on July 9, 2026 [4]. The investment of $13 billion [1] is intended to solidify the region's role in the global AI supply chain. While the project promises economic growth and technical infrastructure, it also places a heavy demand on the local power utility.
Industry analysts said the choice of Sturgeon County provides the necessary land and proximity to energy sources required for such a high-capacity operation. The one-gigawatt capacity [3] makes this one of the largest data centres in the country.
Meta said the investment is part of a broader strategy to expand its AI capabilities. The company has not yet released a specific timeline for the completion of the construction phase in Alberta.
“Meta will invest $13 billion to build an artificial intelligence data centre in Sturgeon County, Alberta.”
The establishment of a 1-gigawatt facility underscores the extreme energy requirements of modern AI, shifting the conversation from software capabilities to physical infrastructure. For Alberta, this represents a significant pivot toward becoming a tech hub, but it creates a tension between attracting high-capital investment and managing the environmental and systemic pressures of massive electricity consumption.
