Overview
- Meta broke ground on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, on a 1‑gigawatt Sturgeon County campus that it says will cost more than C$13 billion and will be the company’s first data centre in Canada.
- The company says the build will support about 3,000 construction jobs at peak and roughly 300 permanent operational roles while contributing about C$60 million for local roads and water infrastructure.
- Power for the site is tied to Project Greenlight, a roughly C$4.6‑billion, ~970‑MW natural gas plant led by Pembina, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor, but that plant is not expected to start operating until about the second half of 2030, creating a gap between when Meta wants the centre online and when the new generation comes into service.
- Meta says the site will use water‑efficient closed‑loop liquid cooling, that it will fund new generation and grid upgrades and will match electricity use with 100% clean and renewable energy, while critics point to Alberta’s gas‑heavy grid and warn of added emissions, noise and limited long‑term local jobs.
- The project reflects Alberta’s push to attract hyperscale AI infrastructure through clear rules that require proponents to bring their own power and pay for grid connections, and the key near‑term issues to watch are the power‑timing mismatch, regulatory approvals and community or environmental challenges.