Alberta lands $13-billion Meta data centre project<\/p>\n
Published 2:03 pm Wednesday, July 8, 2026<\/p>\n
Meta Platforms, the company behind Facebook, has announced a $13 billion investment in Alberta.<\/p>\n
In a July 8 release, the Alberta government announced the company intends to build its first Canadian data centre in the province within Sturgeon County, northeast of Edmonton.<\/p>\n
The construction will represent \u201cone of the largest private-sector investments in Canadian history,\u201d creating more than 3,000 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs when the site goes operational.<\/p>\n
The site is expected to generate about $250 million annually in benefits for Albertans through royalties, taxes, levies and fees. As part of the construction, Meta will invest about $60 million in local infrastructure improvements, including roads and water.<\/p>\n
\u201cArtificial intelligence is transforming the global economy, and Alberta is making sure we lead rather than follow,\u201d said Premier Danielle Smith. \u201cWe created the right conditions to attract world-leading investments while protecting the interests of Albertans. This project will create thousands of jobs, generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue and make electricity more reliable and affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The announcement follows a previously announced partnership with Project Greenlight, a $4.6 billion, 970-megawatt natural gas-fired electricity generation facility that is expected to drop ratepayer electrical bill transmission costs by 6 per cent. The project is being undertaken by Pembina Pipeline Corporation, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor.<\/p>\n
To attract investment such as this, the province has created clear rules for AI data centres. Current provincial rules require large centres to be developed with their own power, pay for needed infrastructure and meet strict environmental water requirements, all in an effort to protect water sources and ensure the projects pay their own way while delivering long-term revenue and benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to announce Meta\u2019s first Canadian data centre in Alberta,\u201d said Gary Demasi, vice president of data centre strategy and development for Meta. \u201cSturgeon County is the perfect home for Meta for several reasons, including its strong access to infrastructure and energy, talented workforce and outstanding community partners. We look forward to creating jobs, partnering with community and government leaders and driving positive impact for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
To protect water sources, the Sturgeon County data centre will use a \u201cclosed-loop, liquid-cooled\u201d design that does not require ongoing operational water use. Facility water use will be restricted to domestic use, fire protection and suppression and equipment maintenance. All water uses will be subject to approval under the province\u2019s Water Act.<\/p>\n
As part of the province\u2019s \u201cbring your own power\u201d approach to development, the site will have both an electrical grid connection and an on-site natural gas generator to help ensure grid stability.<\/p>\n
\u201cLanding the largest data centre project in Canada\u2019s history didn\u2019t happen by accident,\u201d said Nate Glubish, minister of Technology and Innovation. \u201cIt happened by design. For two years we promoted Alberta to the biggest players in the world, built a clear, competitive and fair regulatory framework and put a concierge team to work helping proponents like Meta move fast. Data centres need reliable energy and speed to market. Meta\u2019s investment proves that Alberta delivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The data centre will be located within already designated industrial property inside the county.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very pleased to welcome Meta\u2019s Sturgeon Data Centre to our community,\u201d said Alanna Hnatiw, the Sturgeon County mayor. \u201cFor more than 20 years, we have been balancing responsible development in the Heartland in support of the quality of life and competitive taxation that our residents and businesses expect. We facilitate projects that bring value to our region through job creation, long-term tax revenue, environmental stewardship and infrastructure improvements that all of us benefit from. We\u2019re excited to work with our new neighbours as we continue to make that vision a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Alberta Electrical System Operator estimates that 1,200 megawatts of the province\u2019s power generation could be directed to data centre use without undue effect on grid stability.<\/p>\n
Alberta currently has a data centre levy in effect for large-scale projects, which is deductible from corporate income tax.<\/p>\n
While municipalities control land-use decisions, provincial guidelines recommend that data centres be placed on already developed industrial land and not agricultural land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alberta lands $13-billion Meta data centre project Published 2:03 pm Wednesday, July 8, 2026 Meta Platforms, the company…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":790431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[901,49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-790430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-alberta","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}