3 Things We’re Watching This Week: Meta in Alberta, Super El Niño, AI Megadeals

3 Things We’re Watching

1. Alberta’s data centre advantage

Touting its competitive taxes, cold climate and abundant power capacity,¹ Alberta has successfully courted its first hyperscale AI-focused data centre: a massive facility that Meta will build in Sturgeon County, 35 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. Why does that location matter? In a colder climate, data centres can use outdoor air to help keep their servers from overheating. The $13-billion, one-gigawatt centre will be Meta’s first in Canada and 33rd worldwide. It could create as many as 3,000 construction jobs and 300 long-term operational jobs. Meta will also reportedly be pouring $60 million into local infrastructure including water systems and roads.²

Data centres have a voracious appetite for water and energy, sparking opposition in many communities where they’ve been built or proposed.³ For example, New York recently became the first U.S. state to enact a one-year moratorium on large data centres.⁴ Meta and the Alberta government have offered assurances that the new facility will minimize water usage and satisfy the province’s “bring your own power” requirement for large data centres, meaning that Meta must fund new power generation and grid infrastructure.⁵ To that end, Meta has partnered with Greenlight Electricity to build a $4.6-billion, gas-powered generation facility nearby, expressly to support data centres.⁶ It’s slated to open in 2030,⁷ at which point Meta’s data centre will draw less power from the grid. According to a Sturgeon County press release, transmission fees on Albertans’ utility bills could drop by up to six per cent.⁸

Meta’s data centre will be the largest in Canada, bigger than the five existing hyper-scalers spread across B.C., Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.⁹ But it appears Alberta is just getting started. Dozens more centres are in the works; and if they’re all built, the country’s data-centre capacity (in megawatts) will grow by nearly 14 times, and Alberta will house 92 per cent of it.¹⁰

The bottom line: Despite public concerns about data centres, Alberta is embracing this market, projected to be worth $16.8 billion in Canada by 2030.¹¹ That’s sure to have a ripple effect within and beyond the province. The AI-driven infrastructure boom is already creating opportunities for both businesses and investors in power generation, electrical equipment, cooling and HVAC systems and construction as well as less-obvious industries like marketing and advertising. And it’s happening fast. As York University researchers put it, “In Canada, this expansion is occurring at a pace and magnitude that represent a structural shift rather than incremental growth.”¹²

2. Super El Niño could take a bite out of your food budget

A “Super El Niño” is brewing, scientists warn, and that could spell trouble for global food production.¹³ The natural climate pattern originates in the tropical Pacific Ocean but affects temperatures, precipitation and weather events around the world. This could cause already-inflated grocery prices to go up. What’s more, the fuel and fertilizer shortages already facing farmers and agricultural businesses due to the U.S.–Iran conflict may worsen.¹⁴

An El Niño typically occurs every two to seven years; the last one ran from June 2023 to April 2024 and helped make 2024 the hottest year on record.¹⁵ A Super El Niño is rare, with only five since 1950, the most recent one in being 2015–2016.¹⁶ The one shaping up right now could reach “Super” status from November to January¹⁷ and persist until spring.¹⁸ Extreme weather events – including droughts, floods, storms, heat waves and wildfires – could impact foods as diverse as coffee, rice, sugar, beef and anchovies, driving up prices. (Maybe you’re not an anchovy fan, but this protein-packed fish is a key food source for farmed seafood like salmon and tilapia,¹⁹ and it’s already in short supply.²⁰)

Harvests and food supply chains could be impacted well into 2028.²¹ One bright spot though: abundant harvests in recent years mean higher-than-usual global food inventories, which could soften the blow.²²)

The bottom line: El Niño–related extreme weather could cause damages, delays and other disruptions for a wide range of industries, impacting economies and financial markets worldwide. Climate change has long been a concern for investors, and a Super El Niño in the forecast is even more reason to pay attention to both its risks and opportunities. Investors may want to review their portfolios regularly to check their exposure to commodity price swings, for example, or ask questions about a company’s preparedness for climate risks and other threats before making a new investment.

3. AI megadeals set new record 

A surge in venture capital investment is fuelling a rise in AI megadeals. Global VC investment more than doubled from US$128.6 billion in the last quarter of 2025 to a record US$330.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to a recent report from KPMG Private Enterprise.²³ Most of the capital went to AI-focused companies, with seven in the U.S. This includes OpenAI (US$122 billion) and Anthropic (US$30.6 billion), to name a few. Defence, space tech and cybersecurity are also expected to attract more interest from VCs going forward, amid an uncertain global environment. These trends offer investors insight into where venture capitalists see the strongest long-term growth opportunities.

After a more muted start to the year there has been an uptick in the global IPO market recently, as highly anticipated offerings from companies such as SpaceX and Canadian drugmaker Apotex became available in June. The release of these IPOs has helped fuel dealmaking in Canada, with the country’s financial sector raising about $376 billion through 586 deals in the first six months of 2026. That’s up 21.5 per cent from the $309.3 billion raised in the first half of 2025, according to Financial Post data.²⁴

The momentum in the IPO market is expected to continue with other high-profile companies like Anthropic and OpenAI recently setting the wheels of their own IPOs into motion.²⁵ For investors who want to know more about what the IPO process entails and what to know before you invest, read more here.

The bottom line: AI continues to pique the interest of venture capitalists, but IPO activity suggests investor appetite is broadening beyond private funding. As more high-profile companies prepare to go public, investors will have new opportunities to participate. But it’s important to understand the risks and evaluate each company on its fundamentals rather than the hype.