Presented by Invest Alberta
While enterprises are racing to scale their AI infrastructure, they're usually addressing just one part of the problem. Training foundation models demands ultra-high-density compute clusters and sustainable megawatts of power, while inference workloads require always-on, low-latency distribution. Alberta is emerging as one of the few regions capable of serving both ends of this spectrum.
“The province’s unique blend of sustainability, deregulated power markets, and global connectivity make it an immensely attractive strategic hub for the evolution of AI compute — both in large-scale training and low-latency inference,” says Neil Vande Bunte, Director, Technology and Innovation Investment at Invest Alberta. “Alberta is positioning itself not just as a site for more data centers, but as a proving ground for the next generation of AI-optimized infrastructure and technology.”
Invest Alberta is working alongside the Alberta government to make the province the most competitive and attractive area in North America for data centres. Nate Glubish, Minister of Technology and Innovation in Alberta, has an ambitious goal: $100 billion worth of artificial intelligence data centres under construction within the next five years.
It's a good bet for major companies looking for space. With ample natural gas and lower grid pressures, Alberta is uniquely positioned to offer an alternative to the on-grid infrastructure. Data centres can be built to operate off-grid, in a “bring your own power” (BYOP) model that not only speeds up deployment, but also supports local natural gas prices and renewables options.
Plus, the naturally cool climate of Alberta, and growing investments in liquid cooling, advanced interconnects, and broadband expansion, are a huge draw. Thanks to the Renewable Electricity Act, by the end of 2030 at least 30% of the electric energy produced in Alberta will be produced from renewable energy resources. Data centres generated $1.6B in revenue in 2025 for the province, with 7.7% annualized growth between 2018 and 2023.
Planning and building today’s data centers
Generative AI is redefining what enterprises expect from their data center partners. The biggest shift has been in the sheer scale of the new facilities being planned and built. Until the advent of generative AI and GPU-accelerated computing, most data centers required tens of megawatts of power. Today, the AESO Project List shows 37 data centre projects, 33 of which require more than 100 MW. Within those 33, 12 are requesting more than 500 MW, and six projects need over 1,000 MW.
“New hyperscale data centers are large industrial building projects — built in phases, covering up to thousands of acres — and requiring extensive planning, engineering, and resources for power, fiber, and other utilities, in addition to the facilities themselves,” Vande Bunte says.
And while training and inference workloads have very different infrastructure demands, data centers are meeting those requirements through strategic location planning. Large hyperscalers are seeking vast tracts of land to build mega-campuses for training, with access to stable, cost-effective power — supported by Alberta’s significantly more affordable industrial lease prices, which are 20% lower than the national average. Meanwhile, smaller nodes in urban areas and edge sites place low-latency inference compute closer to where it’s needed.
How sustainability and efficiency impact design
Right now, sustainability is a significant challenge for several reasons: policy shifts, investor expectations, and the fundamental issue of the sector’s rapidly increasing energy consumption. Despite major initiatives and sustainability investments, many tech giants have net-zero targets but are seeing emissions rise because of the explosive growth of their data centers.
“This represents an opportunity for both the province and hyperscalers,” Vande Bunte says. “Hyperscalers face critical pressures that Alberta is uniquely equipped to address: access to reliable power, including near-term gas-fired generation; the high cost of cooling modern facilities; the need for affordable land as AI data centers grow; and clear pathways to achieving long-term sustainability objectives.”
Alberta meets those needs across the board, Vande Bunte adds. It is one of the top jurisdictions globally for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), with world-class infrastructure and the ability to store an estimated 100 billion tonnes of CO₂ in the region’s geology.
More than half of all the natural gas in Canada is produced by Alberta Energy — that's approximately 26.6 trillion cubic feet of conventional marketable natural gas. The province also offers a competitive, deregulated energy market, ideal for corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs).
As a result, Alberta’s PPA market is thriving. With 4.1 gigawatts of known cumulative capacity procured as of 2025, PPAs allow companies to secure stable, long-term electricity pricing directly from generators, reducing exposure to hourly rate fluctuations. PPAs can also be used to purchase renewable electricity and help companies meet ESG goals.
As Vande Bunte points out, facilities in cooler climates can reduce mechanical chiller use dramatically, achieving 10% to 25% annual savings and improving PUE by 0.1–0.2 points.
A deep local talent pool
“Alberta has a long history of punching above its weight when it comes to AI expertise,” Vande Bunte adds.
Vande Bunte points to the work of Professor Richard Sutton at the University of Alberta — a recipient of the Turing Award, often described as the “Nobel Prize of computing” — as well as the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), recognized globally as a leading reinforcement-learning research hub and one of three national AI institutes under the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy.
The University of Alberta is ranked fifth in the world for AI research. The Targeted Enrolment Expansion program, supported by the provincial government, is adding 2,874 additional post-secondary spaces in tech. And in 2024, CBRE identified Calgary as the fastest-growing tech-talent hub in North America.
“Building more functional compute power in the province will strengthen this momentum by providing better, low-latency access to these resources,” Vande Bunte says. “It will also support the province’s growing startup ecosystem for many of the same reasons.”
Building the future data center hub
Invest Alberta has been deliberate in attracting investment in the space. The Alberta government released its AI Data Centre Strategy in December 2024, supported by Invest Alberta’s global investment efforts. Invest Alberta has also engaged with interested parties around the world about the Alberta opportunity.
“We can point to our support for AWS’s 2023 site launch, eStruxture data centers’ built and planned sites, and the announcements from Beacon AI Centres as clear indications that the opportunity for investors and operators entering Alberta’s market is becoming tangible,” Vande Bunte says. “We expect several more public announcements in the coming months that will further contextualize the momentum.”
That momentum is already visible across Alberta’s investment landscape. Calgary is home to CoolIT Systems, whose cooling technologies support over 5 million GPUs and CPUs worldwide, with operations across 70 countries. Earlier-stage companies are also innovating directly in tech infrastructure, including Splice and Connect, a startup addressing one of the most pressing vulnerabilities in electrical systems: cable connection points. Their pre-seed round was led by Calgary-based Avatar Innovations.
Recent large-scale investments further underscore the province’s appeal. AWS has committed $4.3 billion, launching its Calgary West cloud computing hub in 2023 and a state-of-the-art robotic fulfillment centre in Calgary, creating 1,500 new jobs. In addition, Fortinet is investing $30 million to build a new cybersecurity technology hub in Alberta; eStruxture, a leading data centre platform with 15 locations, operates two in Alberta; and Equinix, a $73-billion public company with more than 250 data centers worldwide, has established three in Alberta.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to leverage our strengths as Albertans and as a province at a pivotal moment driven by the advancement of AI,” Vande Bunte says. “Over the next five years, I expect to see multiple hyperscale data center projects built or in their first phase of operation, positioning Alberta as a national leader and global player in AI research, clean technologies, and advanced data-center infrastructure, all built right here.”
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