The Alberta government is looking to attract billions of dollars worth of data-centre investments over the next five years.

​”My goal is over the next five years to try and attract $100 billion worth of investments into data centres,” Nate Glubish, Alberta’s technology and innovation minister, said in an interview with CBC.

“That would mean hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars of incremental tax revenue … which means more money for schools, hospitals and public services that the province cares about.”

Premier Danielle Smith set that total in a mandate letter that she sent to Glubish, according to multiple reports.

Alberta’s data-centre strategy aims to establish the province as the most attractive location in which to AI data centres.

Chetan Dave, a University of Alberta economics professor told CBC that the province’s geography and climate provide an advantage for such facilities, which generate intense heat and rely on cool temperatures to function at their best.

“We’ve got lots of flat land,” Dave told his interviewer. “We have winters that are very sunny.

“And most importantly, what we have is an intellectual infrastructure … for developing AI,” he said, referring to schools like the U of A and the University of Calgary. 

Citing Alberta Electric System Operator data, CBC reported that the province has received more than 230 data-centre development applications.