Cooling Costs, Power, and Certainty: Alberta’s Pitch to AI Infrastructure Investors

Written by Kyla Rowsell
JD Candidate 2026

Like them or not, AI Data Centres are making their way into Canada at an increasing rate. There are currently 239 data centres in Canada[1] and the demand is increasing. As digital currencies expand and generative AI becomes embedded in both public and commercial activity, data centres have emerged as a foundational requirement of the modern economy, and a magnet for global capital.

Canada has already invested heavily in AI by nurturing talent, funding research and development, and retaining intellectual property.[2] But talent and innovation alone do not attract large-scale infrastructure investment. Data centres are capital-intensive[3], long-horizon projects, and investors demand economic and regulatory certainty before committing billions of dollars to a fixed location. The recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal and Alberta governments, has sent a strong signal that regulatory impediments would be reduced providing more certainty for investors.[4]

The Alberta Government has increasingly positioned itself as a viable home for AI data centres, with the potential to play a meaningful role in Canada’s broader strategy to attract foreign AI investment.[5] That potential is not merely theoretical, there are already 22 data centres in Alberta[6] with plans to expand. The Alberta Government has already announced Phase 1 of the Wonder Valley AI Data Centre Park, in Grande Prairie Alberta, which is a proposed 1.4 gigawatt off-grid power system to support the influx power demand for the alleged “world’s largest AI data centre industrial park”.[7] More recently, a European backed data centre valued at approximately $12.8 billion—an investment that signals serious market interest in the province, was announced for Olds, Alberta.[8]

Several features make Alberta especially attractive from an investor perspective. Its colder climate materially reduces cooling costs, a critical operational concern for energy-intensive data centres.[9] The province also offers significant power generation capacity and a deregulated electricity market, allowing operators to secure, generate, or contract for power on their own terms[10], an important lever for cost certainty and long-term planning.
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Regulatory structure further strengthens Alberta’s appeal. Through initiatives such as the Red Tape Reduction Act, the province has emphasized faster approvals and streamlined regulatory processes, which directly address one of the primary risks facing infrastructure investors: delay. Since 2019, Alberta reports a reduction of approximately 35% in red tape, reflecting a broader policy commitment to investor certainty.[11]

Alberta has also taken concrete steps to modernize its corporate law framework. Amendments to the Alberta Business Corporations Act removed the former requirement that 25% of directors be Canadian residents.[12] Today, corporations need only appoint an Alberta-resident agent for service, while boards may be composed entirely of foreign directors. Combined with Alberta’s position as having the lowest corporate tax rate in Canada, and among the lowest in North America, the province has deliberately positioned itself as investor-friendly.[13]

The question is not whether Alberta can attract AI data centres. It is whether its legal, energy, and regulatory frameworks can continue to evolve quickly enough to compete for them.

[1] Chrysten E. Perry et al., Data Centre Opportunities: Alberta and Canadian Initiatives Advance a World-Class Industry (1 December 2025), at para 9, online: https://stikeman.com/en-ca/kh/real-estate-municipal/data-centre-opportunities-alberta-and-canadian-initiatives-advance-a-world-class-industry [Chrysten].

[2] Daniel Schwanen, Canada’s AI strategy needs to avoid excessive precaution (9 December 2025), online: https://cdhowe.org/publication/canadas-ai-strategy-needs-to-avoid-excessive-precaution/

[3] Chrysten, supra note 1 at para 5.

[4] Ibid at para 1.

[5] Ibid at para 23.

[6] Ibid at para 9.

[7] Government of Alberta, Wonder Valley AI Data Centre Park (Phase 1) (last accessed, 31 January 2026), online: https://majorprojects.alberta.ca/details/Wonder-Valley-AI-Data-Centre-Park/11477.

[8] Robert Tuttle, Swiss-backed data centre plan targets $12.8 billion in gas-rich Alberta (2 January 2026), at para 1, online: https://financialpost.com/technology/swiss-backed-data-center-plan-targets-alberta.

[9] Government of Alberta, Alberta’s AI data centre strategy (4 December 2024), at 7, online: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/f6fe5816-12ac-4ba6-805c-d0a0dd5aebf9/resource/26d62103-ff38-4310-a98f-ab4595a4af74/download/ti-albertas-ai-data-centre-strategy.pdf [GOA AI Data Centre Strategy].

[10] Chrysten, supra note 1 at paras 6-8.

[11] Government of Alberta, Cutting Red Tape (last accessed 31 January 2026), online: https://www.alberta.ca/cut-red-tape#:~:text=We%20are%20continuing%20to%20cut,reduced%20red%20tape%20by%2035%25.

[12] Government of Alberta, Key changes: Bill 22 (last accessed January 31, 2026), online: https://www.alberta.ca/implementing-red-tape-reduction#:~:text=and%20Succession%20Act-,Key%20changes%3A%20Bill%2022,-The%20Red%20Tape.

[13] GOA AI Data Centre Strategy, supra note 8.