Meta To Invest About C$13 Bln For Canada's First Data Center For AI-Optimized Workloads

(RTTNews) - Meta Platforms Inc. (META) announced late Wednesday that it will invest more than C$13 billion Canada to build the first data center in the country, which will be optimized for its AI workloads.

The company is breaking ground on the new 1GW, AI-optimized data center in Sturgeon County, Alberta to help power AI innovations and core products.

The project, the 33rd in its global fleet, is expected to support over 3,000 construction workers onsite at the peak of construction. The data center will support more than 300 operational jobs.

As part of the project, Meta also plans to invest around C$60 million in local infrastructure improvements that will benefit the local community, and provide grants and funding to local nonprofits.

Meta said it pays the full costs of data centers' energy use as well as water and wastewater service required to support data centers, so consumers aren't negatively impacted.

Regarding the Sturgeon County data center, the company said it has worked with Greenlight Limited Partnership, Altalink, Capitol Power, and the Alberta Electric System Operator to plan for and meet energy needs years in advance of thes data center coming online.