Meta announced on Wednesday it is building its first data center in Canada, a 1 gigawatt facility in Alberta costing about $9 billion and taking two to three years to construct. The site, located in Sturgeon County, is Meta’s 33rd data center overall and part of its effort to meet demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Alberta was chosen for its available energy and friendly regulatory environment. A Meta spokesperson cited good access to infrastructure, a robust electric grid, access to energy, a strong talent pool, and community partners. Meta is simultaneously planning a new cloud computing business involving selling excess capacity or offering access to AI models. Investors have been skeptical of Meta’s forecast for up to $145 billion on capital expenditures this year, and Meta’s stock is down about 9% this year while the Nasdaq is up 11%. A June report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. highlighted environmental issues like emissions, water consumption and noise from big data centers. Meta said it worked with energy firms including Greenlight Limited Partnership, Altalink, Capitol Power and the Alberta Electric System Operator to plan for energy needs. The project will support over 3,000 construction workers at its peak and involve investments in local infrastructure and funding to local nonprofits.