Meta Platforms has broken ground on a new data centre in Sturgeon County, Alberta, marking the company's first facility in Canada and its 33rd data centre worldwide. The company described the project as a 1-gigawatt campus designed and optimized for artificial intelligence workloads, and said the investment exceeds CAD $13 billion.
Construction activity will be substantial: Meta said approximately 3,000 construction workers will be on site at peak build, and the completed facility will support more than 300 operational jobs. In addition to job creation, the company outlined a suite of local investments tied to the project.
Meta plans to contribute roughly CAD $60 million toward upgrades to local infrastructure, specifically naming roads and water infrastructure improvements. The company also said it will bring its Data Center Community Action Grants program to the region, providing direct funding to nonprofit organizations on an annual basis.
Energy provision for the site will be fully funded by Meta, which stated it will pay the full costs of the facility's energy use and cover the costs of any new generation and grid infrastructure required to support the campus. Meta also said the data centre's electricity consumption will be matched with 100% clean and renewable energy.
On-site cooling will use a water-efficient closed-loop, liquid-cooled system paired with dry cooling. Meta said this design will result in no operational water use in the cooling system; water consumed at the site will be restricted to domestic purposes, fire protection safety systems, and equipment maintenance.
The company has framed the project as both a major capital investment and an initiative with targeted local commitments, from infrastructure spending to community grant funding. Specific timelines for construction milestones or commercial operation were not included in the company's announcement.
Contextual note: The information in this report is based on the company's announcement regarding the Sturgeon County data centre project. Figures for workforce, investment and operational energy arrangements were provided by the company and are reported as stated.