Rocky View County Stakes Out New Path for AI Data Centre Growth

Rocky View County has reinforced its intention to permit AI data centre development—but only under conditions that guard agricultural lands and community interests. The move comes after councillors earlier this month rejected a major 1,100-acre campus proposal that would have encroached on productive farmland.
Council’s decision to turn down the Kineticor Area Structure Plan (ASP) followed a public hearing on September 9 in which residents and agricultural stakeholders expressed serious concerns about the scale and location of the proposal. Without the ASP approval, the development cannot proceed.
Reeve Crystal Kissel said the county is not opposed to AI infrastructure in principle—but “there are other areas in the County that are better suited.”
In its recent release, Rocky View County outlined its strategy for navigating future proposals. Central to that is a new Data Centre Land Use Bylaw, which imposes standards for infrastructure, setback buffers, noise controls and review processes. The county also cited its earlier approval of the Beacon ASP, rezoning about 900 acres for an AI hub.
Meanwhile, two AI facilities in east Balzac—Cal-2 and Cal-3—have already been approved.
Of particular note is the Cal-3 project, led by eStruxture, which is under construction in Rocky View County. When completed, it is expected to be a Tier III facility with up to 90 MW of power capacity, supporting densities of up to 125 kW per rack. It is slated to become the largest data centre in Alberta.
The province lists it among its major projects and projects a schedule of 2024–2026.
Rocky View’s rejection of Kineticor was met with relief by many local farmers and rural residents. Some had argued that the proposed site—northeast of the county, north of Highway 566 and west of Range Road 281—would disrupt irrigation, rural lifestyles, and the continuity of agricultural land use.
The developer had mounted amendments in response to public feedback, but the council remained unconvinced.
Going forward, the county says it will welcome AI and data infrastructure proposals, provided they align with its land-use policies and avoid prime farmland. The aim is to strike a balance between innovation and preserving rural character.
Rocky View County’s approach echoes broader efforts by Alberta to attract AI investment while exercising oversight.
At the provincial level, Alberta launched its Artificial Intelligence Data Centres Strategy in late 2024, built around three pillars: power capacity, sustainable cooling, and economic growth. The province emphasizes its competitive tax structure, regulatory streamlining, and cold climate advantages to attract operators.
The strategy also includes a “concierge program” to guide investors through municipal, infrastructure, and regulatory processes.
However, rising demand is placing pressure on the electricity grid. The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) has indicated it will phase new large-scale grid connections, citing limits to accommodate the surge in load.
McCarthy Tétrault
Meanwhile, across Canada the AI-driven data centre pipeline is immense: the country now has almost 9 GW of data centre projects in various stages of planning or construction, with Alberta and central Canada among the lead regions.
In Alberta’s competitive landscape, municipalities will vie to host data infrastructure, but county councils such as Rocky View’s are signaling they will insist on due diligence and community consent. The result may be that AI becomes part of Rocky View’s economic future—but only on carefully managed terms.
If you like, I can pull together a sidebar comparing Rocky View’s approach to data centre planning in other Alberta municipalities, or map projected power-load constraints.