Bennett Jones attended the Data Centre West 2026 Conference in Calgary earlier this month, hosted by the Western Canada Data Centre Alliance, and engaged with representatives from industry, government and regulatory agencies on the issues facing Alberta's rapidly growing digital infrastructure sector. This year, discussions spanned the hyperscale and AI demand outlook, power procurement and grid access challenges, Alberta's regulatory framework, supply chain constraints and labour availability, and sustainability and community engagement, reflecting a sector that has moved well beyond early-stage interest and into active development and investment.
Alberta's data centre landscape has shifted significantly in the past 18 months. What was once speculative interest has crystallized into billions of dollars in committed investment, a bespoke legislative and regulatory framework and a grid connection queue that far exceed the province's available transmission capacity. While enthusiasm for Alberta's data centre opportunity remains strong, hyperscalers, governments and communities are increasingly focused on the practical and policy considerations that will determine how growth will unfold.
The Hyperscale Signal is Real
Alberta has arrived as a serious destination for hyperscale data centre investment. Meta's announcement in July 2026 of a C$13-billion, gigawatt-scale data centre in Sturgeon County its first in Canada) has materially advanced the conversation. The project is paired with the C$4.6-billion Greenlight Electricity Centre, a 932 MW natural gas-fired generation facility being developed by Pembina Pipeline Corporation, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor Asset Management, and represents the most significant single confirmed investment decision in Alberta's digital infrastructure to date.
Representatives from Meta and AWS were among the conference speakers. Rachel Curran, Head of Public Policy for Meta Canada, noted that Alberta has set a precedent in Canada and created a regulatory environment capable of attracting major hyperscalers. Shannon Kellogg, Vice President of Public Policy at AWS, emphasized the importance of partnering with governments that provide policy stability. Alberta's combination of energy availability, a business-friendly environment and regulatory certainty were key factors in the hyperscalers' decisions to invest here.
However, the scale of interest continues to outpace what the grid can absorb. The AESO reports that requested data centre load now exceeds 20,600 MW, which is well above the province's peak demand of approximately 13,000 MW.
Presentations from Alberta government representatives reflected a dual focus on attracting investment and protecting consumers:
- Minister Sigurdson stressed the need to balance data centre growth against electricity reliability and affordability, insisting that grid reliability comes first and that data centres must "pay their own way."
- Minister Glubish framed AI more expansively, arguing that the technology is key to the most significant advances of this generation, including environmental ones, and that Alberta should embrace it enthusiastically.
- Premier Smith echoed that support while asking industry to help government respond to public anxieties about AI, from surveillance to safety. Her August 2026 video addressing common questions about data centres was cited approvingly by presenters, who said they had shared it abroad as an example of government leadership.
Solving for Power: The BYOG Framework
Power was the dominant theme of the day, and for good reason: grid access has become the binding constraint on data centre development in Alberta.
The Government of Alberta's Data Centre Regulation (AR 117/2026), enacted on June 9, 2026, codifies the province's "bring your own generation" (BYOG) policy and provides the legal foundation for the AESO's grid connection process for large data centres (those seeking a grid connection greater 75 MW or more). The Data Centre Regulation introduces a tethering mechanism under which large data centre proponents commit to bring offsetting generation into the grid's common pool, with tethered large data centres receiving priority over non-tethered competitors. Bridging provisions allow limited interim grid access for up to three years, subject to heightened curtailment risk. For further details, see our post, Alberta's BYOG Framework: What Data Centre and Generation Proponents Need to Know.
As was announced online during the conference, rollout of the AESO's first BYOG process has been delayed to later this fall, with a six-week intake window opening shortly thereafter.
Federal Copyright Uncertainty and AI Training
One of the more significant observations at the conference came from Shannon Kellogg of AWS, who expressed the view that, under the current state of federal copyright law, compute for AI training (i.e., large language models) is essentially barred from Canada. According to Kellogg, this is significantly limiting the scale of data centre development that can proceed in Canada.
The issue is that Canada’s Copyright Act does not include an express exception for text and data mining, which is the computational analysis of large datasets that underpins AI model training. The federal government conducted a public consultation on copyright and generative AI in 2023-2024 and published a What We Heard Report in February 2025, but has not proceeded with legislative changes. The federal government’s recent AI for All strategy, released on June 4, 2026, did not address the issue.
For Alberta, this raises an important question. The unresolved federal debate over how Canadian copyright law applies to AI training workloads—which are compute-intensive and a strategically valuable use case for data centres—may make it difficult to confidently locate those workloads in Canada. As a result, much of the infrastructure under development may be limited to inference, storage and other lower-intensity applications. Federal clarity on copyright and text and data mining is therefore an infrastructure and competitiveness issue that directly affects the value proposition Alberta is offering.
Infrastructure, Power and Development Considerations
Bill Kleyman of Apolo.us, who delivered the opening keynote, cited AFCOM's 2026 research indicating that 74% of industry respondents are planning AI-capable infrastructure and 65% are using or considering on-site generation. His central message: a credible first 50-100 MW with a clear path to grow can mean more than a theoretical gigawatt. Panelists reinforced that customer demand, deliverable power, permitting, community relationships and early contractor involvement all belong in the same conversation. As one panelist put it: "Data center developers need two things: power and bravery."
Several practical observations are relevant to proponents navigating Alberta's framework: phased delivery and time to first power are critical milestones; hybrid power strategies combining grid and on-site generation are gaining traction, consistent with the BYOG framework's flexibility; cooling infrastructure is becoming as strategic as power at higher rack densities; and workforce availability, particularly in less urbanized locations, is making modular architecture increasingly important. A recurring theme was the importance of Alberta building data centres and related power facilities in a manner suited to its own energy resources, geography and climate.
Buddy Rizer, Executive Director of Economic Development for Loudoun County, Virginia, which is now home to the world's largest concentration of data centres, provided instructive context and experience. Under his leadership, Loudoun has attracted more than US$65 billion in commercial investment, and the data centre tax base has helped reduce the residential real property tax rate by more than 48 cents on the dollar, representing approximately US$4,500 in annual household savings for a two-car household. Equally instructive were Rizer's planning lessons: the importance of careful site selection, addressing noise in facility design, evaluating water and cooling requirements early and making community commitments transparent and enforceable. His emphasis on protecting other ratepayers through fair cost allocation is directly relevant to Alberta, where the Data Centre Regulation and data centre levy (discussed here) reflect similar policy objectives.
Sustainability
Alberta's natural climate advantage for cooling remains a distinguishing attribute. Meta's Sturgeon County facility will feature a closed-loop water cooling system and C$60 million in local infrastructure improvements, commitments which align with the federal government's recently released Responsible Data Centre Development Principles. More broadly, questions around emissions from natural gas-fired generation and the role of renewables remain live issues, with Rachel Curran, Head of Public Policy for Meta Canada, signaling that Meta has intentions to backstop multiple GWs of renewable investment in Alberta in the near-term.
Community Engagement
Key to the discussion were the growing public concerns about noise, water use, energy costs and environmental impacts. One speaker posed a challenge that extended beyond infrastructure: how does the sector address public apprehension about AI itself? If AI infrastructure represents a significant economic opportunity, earning public confidence will require engagement from both government and industry.
Speakers observed that all major infrastructure industries—from oil and gas and pipelines to wind and solar—have gone through periods of public pushback, and noted that education and sustained community engagement are key to moving through them. Several also emphasized that the industry must continue to hold itself and its peers to high standards, pushing each other to adopt best practices on water use, emissions, noise and community impact rather than waiting for regulation to mandate them.
Rizer's Loudoun County experience reinforces the point: making community commitments transparent and enforceable from the outset is essential. For Alberta, where the regulatory framework is still being developed, the approach to public engagement will likely shape the trajectory of the industry for years to come.
Construction and Workforce
Alberta's construction workforce, which has historically been oriented toward oil and gas, is well positioned to support data centre development, but competition for skilled labour is intensifying as multiple projects advance simultaneously. Speakers from EllisDon and other contractors noted that modular construction and pre-fabrication are becoming essential for managing schedule risk, particularly in less urbanized areas.
Looking Ahead
Alberta's digital infrastructure sector has moved from early-stage interest to active development. The province's data centre regulatory framework is among the most developed in Canada, and significant hyperscale commitments are now in place.
Substantial challenges remain, however. Grid capacity constraints, the pace of new generation development, regulatory complexity around self-supply configurations, unresolved federal copyright policy affecting AI training workloads and community concerns about AI and data centre impacts will all require continued collaboration between industry, government and regulators.
Our lawyers actively monitor these regulatory and policy developments and how the changes may impact data centres and other market participants. Should you wish to discuss any of the information or issues addressed in this post, please contact the authors or the Bennett Jones Energy Regulatory and Power & Renewables teams.
