Alberta is where Canada's biggest data centers are being planned, and the province is courting them. The largest announced so far is Meta's $13 billion, one-gigawatt data center in Sturgeon County, north of Edmonton, announced July 8, 2026 and powered by a new gas plant from 2030. Near Grande Prairie, Kevin O'Leary's proposed $70 billion, 7.5-gigawatt Wonder Valley park got a provincial industrial zone designation on August 26 but still needs its permits. From December 31, grid-connected data centers of 75 megawatts or more pay a 2% levy on their computer hardware.
Sturgeon County had made data centers a permitted use in 2025, so no public vote was needed; hundreds protested in Morinville on August 2. "We don't want this data centre here, and we don't want this data centre anywhere else," said organizer Ben Baril. Greenview's council allowed data centers after a six-minute hearing in November 2024, weeks before Wonder Valley was announced. The Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation is suing the province over a water license for the project; a judge refused in August to throw the case out.
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Other places have said no. On August 17 the Alberta Utilities Commission denied Synapse's 1.4-gigawatt gas plant for a 10-building campus in Olds, about 30 meters from homes: "The site is simply not suitable for the proposed development." Rocky View County, next to Calgary, rejected a 448-hectare campus near Balzac 6-1 in September 2025 and in July 2026 paused new data center rezoning applications until it adopts rules, expected this fall. It has approved zoning for a Beacon AI Centers project near Indus.
The grid is the limit. The province's grid operator capped new large loads at 1,200 megawatts until 2028 after 29 projects asked for more than 16 gigawatts, and the province is favoring developers that bring their own power. At a packed town hall in Lacombe on August 19, Technology Minister Nate Glubish was booed and promised setback rules to keep data centers away from homes. "It's delightful to hear those words but absolutely useless after all these months," said Olds opponent Bek MacIntosh.
Projects not tied to an area
Sites whose records name no county. Everything else is on the pages listed above.
Alberta3
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Sturgeon CountySturgeon County | Meta | Proposed | 1,000 MW | |
| Synapse Real Estate Corp · OldsOlds | Synapse Real Estate Corp | Blocked | 1,000 MW | |
| Crusoe Alberta (gas-powered)Grande Prairie County | Crusoe | Not reported | Not reported | Source off site ↗ |
Where this comes from
The reporting above was written from these. Open one and check it yourself.
Where people here have won
Projects stopped by a vote, pulled by their developer, or blocked in court.
| Place | What happened | Date | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OldsSynapse Real Estate Corp | Withdrawn by the developer Alberta Utilities Commission rejected the gas power plant the campus depended on, calling the site unsuitable. | Aug 17, 2026 | 1.4 GW | |
| Rocky View County (near Balzac)Kineticor | Denied by a vote County council voted 6-1 against the plan the campus needed, citing its impact on local farmers. | Sep 9, 2025 | 1,107 acres | Story off site ↗ |
Moratoriums and bans in effect
Places in Alberta that have paused or banned new data centers.
| Place | Type | Started | Ends | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky View County | Moratorium | Jul 21, 2026 | No end date | Record off site ↗ |
Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.