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Or sign-in if you have an account.A logo of US company Meta is displayed during the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on May 22, 2024. Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty ImagesMeta Platforms Inc. will invest around US$10 billion to build its first data centre in Canada as the company expands its infrastructure to support its artificial intelligence ambitions.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThe Sturgeon County, Alberta-based data centre will have one gigawatt of power capacity — the equivalent of the power used by around 750,000 homes — and will be largely run on natural gas-fired power. Meta said it’s funding the new electrical generation, which will be connected to Alberta’s grid.The facility will require 3,000 construction workers, and once complete, will create 300 full-time jobs, Meta said in a statement on Wednesday. The data centre will be Meta’s largest outside the U.S., according to Gary Demasi, Meta’s vice president of data centre development and strategy.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe company is expanding its global data centre footprint to secure more computing capacity. The Alberta project marks the 33rd data centre in its fleet. Meta plans to use the computing power for its own AI models and social media apps, including Instagram and Facebook, but it’s also exploring setting up a cloud business that could sell some of that capacity to other companies.While Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has said the company plans to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build out AI infrastructure in the U.S. before the end of the decade, Canada has recently sought to lure investment north of the border.Prime Minister Mark Carney was elected last year pledging to make the country “the best place in the world to build data centres.” The country has vast reserves of relatively cheap natural gas as well as hydropower.The largest projects are concentrated in Alberta, the source of most of the country’s oil and gas production. Last year, Carney agreed to lift clean electricity rules and emissions limits that Alberta said hindered its power industry.Meta’s latest data center announcement comes after Canadian midstream company Pembina Pipeline Corp. and partners Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor Asset Management said they would move ahead with a US$3.2 billion gas-fired electricity plant in Sturgeon County. Meta confirmed the plant will support its data centre.The only water required for the project will be for domestic uses, fire protection and some equipment maintenance, Demasi said.Alberta has attracted as much as $200 billion of potential investment in data centres, Premier Danielle Smith said at a news conference.A firm backed by Canadian businessman and television personality Kevin O’Leary wants to build a 7.5-gigawatt data centre called Wonder Valley about 300 miles from the provincial capital of Edmonton. Data District, a division of Swiss-based manager Alcral AG, has partnered with another company on a proposal for multiple data centres in the province.“The global race for computing power is ramping up like never before driven by demand from artificial intelligence,” Smith said.Alberta-based Capital Power Corp. said it has entered into a long-term energy supply agreement for 250 megawatts of power for the Meta data centre.“We fully expect this is a watermark moment for the industry in the province and we expect to see more projects coming in behind this as a result,” Capital Power CEO Avik Dey said in an interview. “This project in many ways validates Canada and Alberta as a viable jurisdiction for AI compute. I cannot understate the importance of this moment in that regard.” Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. 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