Big tech picks Alberta for $13 billion data centre, its first in Canada
The Facebook and Instagram parent has guided to as much as US$145bn in capital spending this year, CNBC reported, a forecast that has drawn investor skepticism.
Meta’s shares have fallen about 9 percent in 2026 while the Nasdaq has gained 11 percent, the network said, and the company is building a cloud-computing business that could sell spare capacity or access to its AI models as it competes with Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.
According to Reuters, Alberta has courted Silicon Valley for years, betting on natural gas that trades at a steep discount to the US benchmark and a cold climate that lowers cooling costs.
Meta said it will fully fund new generation and grid infrastructure for the site, which will draw about as much electricity as 800,000 homes.
Last fall the province passed legislation letting data centres generate their own power, CBC News reported.
