Why is Meta building its first Canadian data center in Alberta, and what key advantages does the province offer?

Meta is building its first Canadian data center in Alberta because the province offers abundant and inexpensive natural gas—critical for powering energy-intensive AI infrastructure—and a cold climate that reduces cooling costs for data centers. Additionally, Alberta allows new data center proponents to build their own power generation facilities to bypass grid capacity limits, and Meta has partnered with Pembina Pipeline to secure long-term natural gas supply via the upcoming Greenlight Electricity Centre.

What is the scale and energy impact of Meta's planned Alberta data center?

The data center will be a 1-gigawatt facility located in Sturgeon County, representing a C$13 billion investment and consuming as much electricity as approximately 800,000 homes; Meta will fully fund new generation and grid infrastructure for the site, and the project will require about 150 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Meta to build C$13 billion Alberta data center, its first in Canada

Jul 8, 2026

Meta plans a C$13 billion data center in Alberta, utilizing local natural gas for power to support AI expansion, which will increase demand for Western Canadian gas producers.

reuters

2026-07-08

Meta to build C$13 billion Alberta data center, its first in Canada

Meta to build C$13 billion Alberta data center, its first in Canada

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