Meta invests $9.17 billion to build its first Canadian AI data center in Alberta

Meta has announced a $9.17 billion (C$13 billion) investment to build its first data center in Canada, a massive 1-gigawatt facility located in Sturgeon County, Alberta that will be optimized for its artificial intelligence workloads. This project marks the company's 33rd data center globally and represents its largest infrastructure investment outside the United States, underscoring tech giants' urgent race to secure the computing capacity needed to support the expanding AI boom. The facility, which could scale up to 1.8 gigawatts, is expected to be constructed over two to three years and will help power Meta's AI innovations and core products like Facebook and Instagram that billions of people rely on. The move is significant for Canada's AI ecosystem and energy sector, as the data center will be powered by a new natural gas-fired plant being developed by a consortium including Pembina Pipeline Ltd.