By Amanda Stephenson
CALGARY, July 8 (Reuters) – Big Tech has joined the party at the Calgary Stampede, a sign of growing interest in Canada from U.S.-based hyperscalers as the province of Alberta courts data center development.
Oil and gas companies typically take center stage at the annual energy get-together, timed with the city’s famous rodeo. But this year, U.S.-based tech giants have a noticeable corporate presence as well, according to sources attending the parties.
Alphabet’s Google has been the most highly visible, helping sponsor Stampede for the second year in a row. The company hosted a private party Sunday at the Corona Skydeck, an exclusive rooftop patio overlooking the Stampede rodeo grounds, with enough capacity for 300 guests.
The party was attended by federal and provincial politicians and government staff, among other guests, according to a Reuters source.
A Google spokeswoman confirmed that the company has the largest presence it has ever had at the Calgary Stampede this year.
Two sources said other tech firms, including Meta and Amazon , have also been attending events and meetings at Stampede. Neither company responded to a request for comment.
Meta announced Wednesday it will build a massive data center in central Alberta, the company’s first in Canada, as it rapidly rolls out computing capacity to support the global AI boom. The 1-gigawatt data center will be located in Sturgeon County and represents a total investment of C$13 billion, or $9.17 billion, Meta said.
Alberta wants to attract C$100 billion in data center investment, touting its cheap and abundant natural gas supply. Affordable power, combined with the province’s cold climate, could make it an attractive jurisdiction to U.S. hyperscalers facing power constraints and growing community opposition in their own country.
Nate Glubish, the province’s technology minister, previously told Reuters that Alberta is in talks with multiple tech companies that are searching for jurisdictions where they can connect to the grid quickly.
Alberta is also offering proponents the option to build their own power sources to avoid limits on power capacity.
While the province does not yet have any data centers at the so-called hyperscale level (demanding 50 megawatts or more of power), almost 100 have been proposed and at least one large-scale one is set for construction.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and David Gaffen)
