Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is making a landmark investment in Alberta, announcing that Sturgeon County will be home to the company’s newest AI data centre — its first in Canada and its largest outside the United States.

The 2.9-million-square-foot facility represents an investment of more than $13 billion Canadian and will be located north of Edmonton in Sturgeon County. Reuters reported that the project will be a 1-gigawatt data centre and Meta’s 33rd data centre globally, part of the company’s rapid expansion of computing capacity to support artificial intelligence.

Gary Demasi, Meta’s Vice-President of Data Center Development, made the announcement after being introduced by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. He thanked the premier, the Government of Alberta, Sturgeon County, Invest Alberta, the Alberta AI Concierge Team and other partners who helped bring the project to the province.

“We are thrilled to announce that Sturgeon County, Alberta, will be home to Meta’s newest data center, our first in Canada and our largest outside the U.S.,” Demasi said.

The project is expected to create more than 3,000 construction jobs and generate an estimated $250 million annually in benefits for Albertans. Meta also announced it will invest $60 million in local infrastructure, reinforcing the company’s message that the data centre is not only a technology investment, but also a long-term commitment to the community.

Demasi said Meta’s electricity use at the Sturgeon County data centre will be matched with 100 per cent clean and renewable energy. He emphasized that Meta will pay the full cost of the energy required by the facility and that those costs will not be passed on to Alberta consumers.

“We are fully funding new generation and grid infrastructure to support our data center, which will improve reliability across the entire Alberta grid and benefit all consumers,” Demasi said.

Meta also said the facility has been designed to minimize water use. The Sturgeon County data centre will use a closed-loop liquid cooling system, along with dry cooling for the rest of the facility. According to Demasi, the cooling system will require no operational water, with onsite water use limited to domestic needs, fire protection systems and certain equipment maintenance activities.

“To put that into perspective, our annual water use is actually less than a typical Alberta golf course,” Demasi said.

Meta has also committed to becoming water positive by 2030, meaning it intends to restore more water than it consumes in local watersheds. In Alberta, the company said it is partnering with ALUS and local farmers to conserve 200 acres of grasslands, trees and wetlands in the North Saskatchewan River watershed.

For Alberta, the announcement is a major win in the province’s strategy to position itself as a leading North American destination for AI infrastructure and data-centre investment.

Nate Glubish, Alberta’s Minister of Technology and Innovation, said the investment was the result of a deliberate two-year effort to attract global technology companies to Alberta.

“This is a big deal for Alberta,” Glubish said. “More importantly, it did not happen by accident. It happened by design.”

Glubish said he first met with Meta’s global data centre team in Silicon Valley about two years ago. At the time, he said, the company had not yet heard of Alberta as a potential destination for this type of investment. That meeting, he said, helped begin the process that led to the Sturgeon County announcement.

He credited Premier Smith for giving him the mandate to build a strategy, launch a concierge service and promote Alberta as a destination for AI data-centre infrastructure.

“We did it in a way that is going to benefit Albertans,” Glubish said. “We did not want to be first and rush in blindly. We wanted to be smartest.”

Glubish said Alberta’s goal was to create a clear and reasonable regulatory framework so companies would understand what is expected of them, while Albertans could be confident their interests are protected. He called Meta’s announcement proof that the province’s work over the past two years is paying off.

“I believe it will be the first of many,” he said.

RJ Sigurdson, Alberta’s Minister of Affordability and Utilities, said the Meta project demonstrates that Alberta can attract world-scale technology investment while protecting electricity reliability and affordability.

“This data center proves that Alberta has the power to drive and lead global innovation on our own terms,” Sigurdson said.

He said the province worked to strike the right balance between enabling major data-centre projects to move quickly and ensuring Alberta’s electricity system remains reliable and affordable for consumers.

“Meta choosing to make this historic investment in Alberta makes it abundantly clear that we hit our target,” Sigurdson said.

Sturgeon County has also been positioning itself for data-centre growth, highlighting its access to industrial land, energy infrastructure and Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. The county says data-centre projects are expected to locate in pre-zoned industrial areas, helping keep major industrial development away from residential communities while using existing transportation, power and utility corridors.

The announcement also signals a broader shift for Alberta’s economy. Long known as one of North America’s leading energy-producing jurisdictions, the province is now using its energy resources, land base, industrial infrastructure and cold climate to attract large-scale AI and technology investment.

Meta’s decision to build in Alberta places the province directly in the global race to support artificial intelligence, cloud computing and next-generation digital infrastructure.

For Demasi, the project is about more than servers, power and buildings. He said Meta wants to become a long-term partner in Sturgeon County and Alberta.

“We’re proud that we’re not just investing in technology,” Demasi said. “We’re investing in people, we’re investing in jobs, long-term relationships, and being a reliable partner who listens to and shows up for their neighbours.”

With construction jobs, new infrastructure, power generation, community grants and long-term local partnerships, Meta’s $13-billion data centre marks one of the most significant technology investments ever announced in Alberta — and a major step in the province’s effort to become a global AI infrastructure hub.

View the Alberta Government Press Release Here

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