The Alberta project will need 3,000 workers to build and support more than 300 permanent jobs once operational
Meta is building its first data centre in Canada, a one-gigawatt facility in Sturgeon County, AB, that the company says represents an investment of more than CAD $13 billion. The announcement, made July 8, 2026, positions Alberta as the anchor point for Meta's Canadian AI infrastructure push and creates a fresh test for how the province's skilled trades workforce absorbs a project of this scale. The facility is Meta's 33rd data centre globally and its first in Canada.
Meta said the Sturgeon County build will require roughly 3,000 construction workers at peak, with more than 300 permanent operational jobs created once the facility is running, according to the company's July 8 announcement.
A Meta spokesperson told CNBC the Sturgeon County site offered “a strong pool of talent and a great set of community partners” that helped move the project forward.
Investment beyond the construction site
Meta also plans to put approximately CAD $60 million into local infrastructure, including roads and water systems, and will launch annual Data Center Community Action Grants for area nonprofits, the company said. Meta has committed to fully funding new energy generation and grid upgrades tied to the project, working with Greenlight Limited Partnership, AltaLink, Capital Power and the Alberta Electric System Operator to secure power years ahead of the data centre coming online, according to the company's announcement.
Premier Danielle Smith and other Alberta government officials joined Meta executives for the announcement in Calgary, Reuters reported, part of a yearslong provincial push to attract large-scale technology investment to the oil-and-gas province.
Why skilled trades employers should pay attention
The bigger workforce story may extend well past Meta's payroll. Alberta's cold climate and access to discounted natural gas made it an attractive data centre location, Reuters reported, and the province already hosts about 20 small- to mid-scale data centres pulling from a grid that is 60 per cent powered by natural gas. As more projects follow, employers across Alberta's energy and construction sectors are competing for the same pool of electricians, millwrights and HVAC technicians that AI infrastructure builds depend on.
That competition is playing out against a national backdrop. Canada's construction sector alone is projected to need 380,500 additional workers by 2034, adding to pressure already flagged in coverage of Ottawa's submarine contract squeezing the same skilled trades pool. Ottawa has responded with more federal money, including expanded apprenticeship equipment funding under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy, aimed at growing the pipeline of Red Seal tradespeople these projects rely on. Economists say the tightening labour market is already pushing wage growth higher across Canadian industries, a trend large capital projects like Meta's data centre tend to accelerate locally.
For now, Meta framed the Sturgeon County location as a fit on paper — power, land, and talent. Whether Alberta's skilled trades pipeline keeps pace won't be clear until the province sees how many similar projects follow.
