Alberta may see gigawatt-scale AI data center construction commence this year as energy and capital converge.

Alberta could see major AI data centre construction announcements by late summer, according to the province's Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish. Speaking at the Global Energy Show in Calgary on June 10, 2026, Glubish predicted the arrival of "gigawatt-scale announcements" with "shovels in the ground, permits complete, financing in place," anticipating the first campus would be operational within 12 to 18 months.

The province has set an ambitious target to attract $100 billion in data centre investment by 2030, riding a wave of global expansion driven by the artificial intelligence arms race. The scale of capital flowing into data infrastructure is staggering: Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet alone announced $760 billion in combined data centre investment worldwide for 2026, according to Wes Cullum, senior vice-president of power generation at Beacon Data Centers. Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. projects close to $7 trillion in global data centre investment by 2030.

However, the sector faces mounting community resistance. Hundreds of protesters recently opposed two planned data centres in Vancouver, British Columbia. In Alberta, uncertainty surrounds Synapse Data Center Inc.'s proposed facility in Olds after the company resubmitted its proposal to regulators amid ongoing public concerns.

Industry executives emphasize that successful projects require genuine community engagement. Mike Shaw, vice-president of business development at ATCO Ltd.'s energy systems division, stressed that companies must demonstrate local benefits. "Regardless of a data centre or any other kind of development, the ground game and getting that community support and guiding public perception should be goal No. 1," Shaw said. He warned that without local buy-in, "a lot of these projects will be stopped in their tracks."

ATCO's natural gas and electricity infrastructure will prove essential for serving Alberta's data centres. The province has encouraged developers to bring their own power generation to minimize strain on existing grids and prevent electricity rate increases for residents. "If you cause the cost on our grid, you're going to pay for it," Glubish said.

Aric Carlisle, a director at SLB, a global oilfield services company with data centre infrastructure expertise, sees data centres as a transformative opportunity. "The megaprojects are coming; the gigawatt-scale campuses are coming. That's a massive undertaking that can't be underestimated," he said.