Meta announces its first data center in Canada estimated $9 billion 1GW Alberta mega facility sees the AI expansion cross the border

Date:
Thu, 09 Jul 2026 18:35:00 +0000

Description:
The 1GW facility will be built outside of Edmonton, and is predicted to
create about 300 operational jobs once completed.

FULL STORY
Meta has announced its ambition to build a $9
billion datacenter in Alberta, Canada, with a 1GW capacity.

The project, which was announced in a Meta blog post , is set to be built
just outside of Edmonton in Sturgeon County, with the construction expected
to take two to three years. Meta says the data center will support around 3,000 jobs during construction, and then 300 operation jobs when the data center is up and running. Alongside the data center, Meta has announced that it will improve local infrastructure with a CAD $60 million in roads and
water services. The project will also see its electricity usage matched with 100% clean and renewable energy, with the full costs of the data centers energy use covered by Meta.

This specific location met the factors we typically look for: good access to infrastructure, a robust electric grid and access to energy, a strong pool of talent, and a great set of community partners that helped us move this
project forward, a Meta spokesperson told CNBC .

The project marks Metas first data center venture in Canada, and will join a fleet of 32 other Meta campuses across the globe. Alberta was also chosen because of its lenient regulatory environment, allowing the construction to
be approved with a comparatively small amount of legwork.

Meta also hopes to plan for and meet our energy needs years in advance of
this data center coming online by working with Canadian energy services such as Greenlight Limited Partnership, Altalink, Capitol Power and the Alberta Electric System Operator.

The AI capacity offerings from Meta come relatively late in the game compared to industry leaders such as Amazon , Alphabet, and Microsoft , prompting it
to undertake an aggressive buildout across the US and elsewhere.

Meta is also reportedly venturing into the cloud computing industry by
selling excess capacity at some of its completed AI data centers in order to offset the costs of construction. Meta predicted that it would spend between $125-145 billion on AI and data centers in 2026.

Link to news story:

https://www.techradar.com/pro/meta-announces-its-first-data-center-in-canada-e stimated-usd9-billion-1gw-alberta-mega-facility-sees-the-ai-expansion-cross-th e-border

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* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/107)