Meta to Build $9 Billion Data Center in Alberta While Its Stock Trails Market

Meta announced on Wednesday that it will build its first data center in Canada, a 1-gigawatt facility in Sturgeon County, Alberta, Cnbc reported. The project will cost the company about $9 billion and require two to three years of construction. The site was selected for its access to infrastructure, a robust electric grid, available energy, local talent, and community partners, a Meta spokesperson said.

Sturgeon County has long been zoned for industrial use and sits in an area with capacity for additional energy infrastructure. Meta worked with Greenlight Limited Partnership, Altalink, Capitol Power, and the Alberta Electric System Operator to plan energy needs years ahead of the facility coming online.

The project will support over 3,000 construction workers at peak and include investments in local infrastructure plus funding for nonprofits.

The company is also planning a new cloud computing business that could sell excess capacity to third parties or offer access to AI models hosted in its infrastructure. Meta's stock is down about 9 percent this year while the Nasdaq is up 11 percent.

A June report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation highlighted environmental issues including emissions, water consumption, and noise from large data centers.