A $13-billion artificial intelligence data centre is under construction on a 33-Canadian Football League-field area in Sturgeon County, where excavation and new roads are changing the site near Highway 643 and Range Road 222. The 1-gigawatt facility will be Meta’s first data centre in Canada and is expected to come online in 2028. A new natural gas power plant is planned to supply it eventually, with completion scheduled for 2030.

Meta says about 3,000 workers will be at the site at the peak of construction. Once operating, the data centre is expected to support more than 300 jobs. The company has also promised $60 million for infrastructure improvements in Sturgeon County, as well as grants and funding for local non-profits.

The project is part of a surge in proposed data centre development that could make Alberta the country’s leading province for such projects. Researchers at Toronto’s York University Schulich School of Business published a report on Canadian data centre growth earlier this year, using information from Arterio, an infrastructure and energy intelligence company. Their analysis found Alberta was far ahead of other provinces in projects in the pipeline.

“Based on the last upload from June, about 92 per cent of those in the pipeline were in Alberta,” report co-author Lyndsey Rolheiser told CTV News Edmonton. The report estimated that all planned Alberta projects would require more than 20,000 megawatts of electricity, nearly the amount the province can generate under ideal conditions.

The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) reported that Alberta’s total installed generation capacity connected to the grid had a maximum capability of 23,393 megawatts as of July 30. Martin Boucher, head of NorQuest College’s Community Innovation Centre, said the scale of proposed demand needs scrutiny. “I think there are some questions that we need to wrestle with in terms of what that impact is on the grid because it is so significant,” Boucher said.

Alberta’s “bring your own power” policy requires large data centre developers to secure their own generation rather than depend on the public grid. Some projects, however, have been permitted to use grid power temporarily while their own supply is developed. AESO has allocated 1,200 megawatts of interim generation for data centres through 2028: 230 megawatts for the Keephills facility in Parkland County and 970 megawatts for Meta’s project.

AESO is developing a long-term framework for “large load growth.” It had originally been due in August, but the operator told CTV News Edmonton it is now expected this fall. AESO declined the outlet’s request for an interview. A Pembina Institute report found temporary power use by Meta’s project alone could add hundreds of dollars to Albertans’ electricity bills.

Alberta’s technology and innovation minister, Nate Glubish, said in a July interview with CTV News Edmonton that the province can support substantial data centre growth. “We have one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world,” Glubish said. He said developers view access to electricity as a reason to choose a jurisdiction: “This is an opportunity for us to get that to a global market and these project proponents are basically saying, if we can get electricity then that’s a good jurisdiction for us.”

Glubish said he sees data centres as a route to greater opportunity and wealth for Albertans. The province estimates Meta’s project will generate about $250 million annually in royalties, taxes, levies and transmission fees. “We’ve got the workforce, the talent, a regulatory framework that balances strong protections from an environmental perspective but also a ‘get ‘er done’ entrepreneurial attitude. You can’t say that in every jurisdiction across Canada and the U.S.,” Glubish said.

CTV News Edmonton said the report on the Sturgeon County construction is the first in a series of stories it is producing about data centres in Alberta.

Based on reporting by CTV News Edmonton.