Meta's Gas-Guzzling $13 Billion Data Centre Coming to Alberta

Danielle Smith announces a $13 billion Meta data centre in Sturgeon County, Alberta, set to be the largest in Canada.

In contrast to Carney’s federal A.I. strategy, which promised clean, sovereign, and ethical A.I.,  Smith refers to the Meta project as a “digital refinery,” fuelled by a natural gas plant that will be built to power it. 

Instead of digital sovereignty, is Canada going to end up being a branch-plant, resource economy at the service of Big Tech? 

Plus, the best Canadian films you probably haven’t seen, and Big Tech’s new hiring target: philosophers. 

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Kallan Lyons (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), Caleb Thompson (Mixing and Mastering), Tristan Capacchione (Senior Production Supervisor), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Douglas Soltys

Further reading: 

• Big Tech joins Calgary Stampede oil bash, as Alberta courts data centres | CBC News
• Meta to build $13 billion data centre in Alberta, largest outside the U.S. | Globalnews.ca
• 'Responsible corporate citizen:' Meta, Premier Danielle Smith defend $13B Alberta mega data centre plan - Edmonton Journal
• Supersized data centres are coming to Canada. One province is at the epicentre | CBC News
• Meta to build Canada’s largest data centre north of Edmonton | BetaKit
• Meta axes feature that allowed tagging Instagram users to generate AI images of them | CBC News
• Vancouver’s Growing Anti-AI Movement | The Tyee
• Meta’s AI Data Center Caught Leaking Deadly Bacteria Into Water Town Uses for Irrigation - Futurism
• The Revenge of the Philosophy Majors - NY Times
• The 100 best Canadian films ever made - The Globe and Mail

Join Jesse Brown at the University of Waterloo for:

Campus Town Hall - Civil Conversations

7pm | July 21st, 2026

University of Waterloo

Pearl Sullivan Engineering Building

PSE 7303

Supported by Heterodox Academy

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