Data-center law in Alberta

R.S.A. 2000, c. M-26, ss. 640, 683, 683.1

Applies to both

Every municipality must pass a land use bylaw. A land use bylaw may prohibit or regulate and control the use and development of land and buildings in a municipality. It must divide the municipality into districts of the number and area the council considers appropriate.

It must, unless the district is a direct control district, prescribe for each district the uses of land or buildings that are permitted, with or without conditions, or that may be permitted at the discretion of the development authority. Except as otherwise provided in a land use bylaw, a person may not commence any development unless the person has been issued a development permit in respect of it pursuant to the land use bylaw.

A development authority must, within 20 days after the receipt of an application for a development permit, determine whether the application is complete.

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R.S.A. 2000, c. E-12, ss. 44, 59; Alta. Reg. 111/1993, ss. 1-2, Schedules 1 and 2

Effective 1993-09-01 · Applies to both

If a proposed activity is a mandatory activity, the Director shall direct the proponent by order in writing to prepare and submit an environmental impact assessment report. If it is not a mandatory activity, the Director decides whether its potential environmental impacts warrant further consideration under the environmental assessment process.

A proposed activity listed in Schedule 1 to the Environmental Assessment (Mandatory and Exempted Activities) Regulation that has not been commenced is designated as a mandatory activity. Schedule 1 lists a thermal electrical power generating plant that uses non-gaseous fuel and has a capacity of 100 megawatts or greater, and a hydroelectric power generating plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts or greater.

A proposed activity listed in Schedule 2 is exempt from Part 2, Division 1 of the Act and the Environmental Assessment Regulation. Schedule 2 lists a backup power generating system that is only used to provide power to a facility when the facility's principal source of power is interrupted and that is not connected to the electric distribution system.

It also lists a plant, structure or thing for generating wind electric power or solar electric power with a total nominal capacity not exceeding 1 megawatt. The Regulation came into force on September 1, 1993.

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Alta. Reg. 117/2026

Applies to both

The Regulation defines a data centre as a facility or facilities, or a proposed facility or facilities, the purpose of which is to house and operate computing equipment for applications including data hosting and cloud computing, digital asset mining, artificial intelligence and machine learning and digital services and content delivery.

A data centre is a large data centre if its maximum demand directly from the transmission system is 75 megawatts or more, or a lower threshold the Independent System Operator sets to protect the reliability and adequacy of the interconnected electric system. The Independent System Operator may designate a large data centre as a tethered data centre if the person requesting service has committed to associate the request with requests for generating units or energy storage facilities.

It must prioritize the processing of a system access service request for a tethered data centre over one for a large data centre that is not tethered. It must not provide system access service for a tethered data centre until a tethered generating unit or energy storage facility associated with the data centre has been provided with the service requested for it, subject to the rules for bridged data centres.

A tethered data centre may be provided with service before its tethered generating units are served only if the Commission has approved those units under section 11 or 13.01 of the Hydro and Electric Energy Act and the Independent System Operator's requirements and criteria are met. Service to a bridged data centre may continue for a maximum of 3 years from when it is first provided.

The Independent System Operator may establish criteria that a person requesting service for a large data centre must meet, including site control, municipal zoning approvals, financing and the issuance of permits or water licences. When there is an inadequate supply of electricity, it must require a reduction in demand for bridged data centres before other electricity market participants.

In mandatory load shedding it must require a reduction in demand for large data centres before other electricity market participants. The Regulation must be reviewed on or before May 31, 2030 and expires on May 31, 2035.

Source: Full text of law

S.A. 2003, c. E-5.1, ss. 1(1)(h.01), 20(1)(i.1), 20.21(2.2), 41.01

Effective 2025-12-11 · Applies to both

The Act gives the term data centre the meaning given to it in regulations made by the Minister under section 41.01. The Independent System Operator may make ISO rules respecting data centres. The Commission is the Alberta Utilities Commission. The Commission may approve such an ISO rule only if it is satisfied that the rule meets the criteria specified in the regulations made under section 41.01 and that the Independent System Operator complied with the Commission rules made under section 20.9.

Section 41.01 lets the Minister make regulations respecting data centres, including regulations defining data centre, respecting classes of data centres, the provision of system access service to them, load management, load shedding and their consumption of electricity. The Utilities Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, chapter 26 of the Statutes of Alberta, 2025, added section 41.01.

That Act received Royal Assent on December 11, 2025, and the legislature's bill page records it as coming into force that day, with exceptions. The consolidated text lists the amendments that section 2 of that Act makes to sections 16(2)(b), 20.8, 30(4) and 99 as not yet in force. A person who fails to comply with the Act or the regulations is liable to a fine of not more than $3,000,000 for each day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues.

Source: Full text of law

R.S.A. 2000, c. H-16, ss. 11, 13, 13.01, 13.03, 45

Applies to both

No person shall construct or operate a power plant unless the Commission, by order, has approved the construction and operation of the power plant. The Commission is the Alberta Utilities Commission. A power plant means the facilities for the generation and gathering of electric energy from any source. The approval requirement does not apply to a person generating or proposing to generate electric energy solely for the person's own use, unless the Commission otherwise directs.

A person generating or proposing to generate electric energy solely for the person's own use shall, if required by regulation to do so, immediately notify the Commission of the use or proposed use and provide any details of the generation and use that the Commission requires. No person shall construct or operate an energy storage facility unless the Commission, by order, has approved the construction and operation of the energy storage facility.

That requirement does not apply to a person storing electric energy solely for the person's own use, unless the Commission otherwise directs, or to an energy storage facility that is included in an electric distribution system or transmission line. A person who fails to comply with the Act or the regulations is liable to a fine of not more than $3,000,000 for each day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues.

Source: Full text of law

R.S.A. 2000, c. W-3, ss. 49, 142-143

Applies to both

Subject to subsection (2), no person shall commence or continue a diversion of water for any purpose, or operate a works, except pursuant to a licence unless it is otherwise authorized by the Act. A person is not required to hold a licence for a diversion or works for household purposes, under a registration or an approval, one the regulations designate as exempt from the requirement for a licence, or one in an area the regulations designate as an area where a licence is not required.

A person who knowingly commences or continues a diversion of water for any purpose, or operates a works for the diversion of water, except under a licence or as otherwise authorized by the Act, is guilty of an offence. On conviction of that offence an individual is liable to a fine of not more than $100,000 or to imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or to both, and a corporation to a fine of not more than $1,000,000. The consolidated text lists amendments made by chapter 27 of the Statutes of Alberta, 2025 as not yet in force.

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R.S.A. 2000, c. S-1, ss. 2, 5, 43, 67-68

Applies to both

The Act applies to fire protection, barrier-free design and the design, manufacture, construction, installation, use, operation, occupancy and maintenance of buildings, electrical systems, elevating devices, gas systems, plumbing systems, pressure equipment and private sewage disposal systems. The owner of any thing, process or activity to which the Act applies shall ensure that it meets the requirements of the Act.

If the Act requires a person to have a permit to sell, construct, control or operate any thing or supervise, operate or undertake any process or activity, no person shall do so unless the person has the appropriate permit. A person who contravenes the Act, or a condition in a permit, certificate or variance, is guilty of an offence. On a first offence the person is liable to a fine of not more than $100,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both.

On a second or subsequent offence the person is liable to a fine of not more than $500,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both.

Source: Full text of law

R.S.A. 2000, c. E-12, ss. 60, 61, 228; Alta. Reg. 276/2003, ss. 2(1)(vv), 5(1), Schedule 1

Effective 2003-10-01 · Applies to both

No person shall commence or continue any activity that is designated by the regulations as requiring an approval or registration unless that person holds the required approval or registration. The Activities Designation Regulation designates the activities listed in Schedule 1 as activities in respect of which an approval is required. Schedule 1 lists the construction, operation or reclamation of a power plant.

A power plant is a plant that produces steam or thermal electrical power and has a rated production output of greater than one megawatt under peak load. The definition does not include a production facility for space heating or a sawmill wood-waste system with a rated production output of no more than 10 megawatts of electricity or its steam equivalent under peak load. Section 60 of the Act prohibits knowingly commencing or continuing such an activity without the approval or registration.

An offence under section 60 carries, for an individual, a fine of not more than $100,000 or imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or both, and for a corporation a fine of not more than $1,000,000. An offence under section 61 carries a fine of not more than $50,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a corporation. The Regulation came into force on October 1, 2003.

Source: Full text of law

Alta. Reg. 133/2019, ss. 1(1)(cc), 3, 12, 15, 33-34, 40

Effective 2020-01-01 · Applies to both

A large emitter is a facility that has direct emissions of 100,000 CO2e tonnes or more in 2016 or a subsequent year, or that imports more than 10,000 tonnes of hydrogen in 2023 or a subsequent year. The Regulation does not apply to such a facility until the year after the earlier of the year in which it first has direct emissions of 100,000 CO2e tonnes or more and the year in which it first imports more than 10,000 tonnes of hydrogen.

An electricity facility is a facility that produces electricity as a primary product or both electricity and industrial heat as primary products. The person responsible for an electricity facility shall comply with the requirement that the net emissions for the electricity facility for a year shall not exceed the allowable emissions for the electricity facility for the year.

The person responsible for a large emitter that is not an electricity facility, in its 3rd or subsequent year of commercial operation, is bound by the same requirement. The person responsible for an electricity facility shall submit a compliance report for each year the facility is a large emitter on or before June 30 of the following year.

A person who contravenes the requirement not to exceed allowable emissions is liable to a fine of not more than $400 for every tonne of specified gas, expressed in CO2e tonnes, by which the net emissions exceed the allowable emissions. The Regulation came into force on January 1, 2020.

Source: Full text of law

R.S.A. 2000, c. A-15, ss. 25.05-25.07, 92.2-92.92

Effective 2026-01-01 · Applies to both

An operator shall pay a levy to the Provincial Minister on the computing equipment of each data centre and each co-location facility the Act describes, for each calendar year. The levy is a tax.

A data centre is a facility in Alberta for which an operator is responsible, the purpose of which is to house and operate computing equipment for applications including data hosting and cloud computing, digital asset mining, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and digital services and content delivery. The levy is payable on the computing equipment of a data centre whose electricity capacity is 75 MW or greater at any time in the calendar year.

It is also payable on a data centre that is part of a group of data centres of operators who do not deal with each other at arm's length whose aggregate electricity capacity is 75 MW or greater. A co-location facility whose electricity capacity is 75 MW or greater at any time in the calendar year is subject to the levy on its own computing equipment.

The levy is the amount determined by the formula (E + F) x R, where E is 45 per cent of the cost of computing equipment less than 4 years old at the end of the calendar year and F is 15 per cent of the cost of computing equipment greater than 3 years old. The Government of Alberta describes the rate as up to 2 per cent. The rate is reduced by electricity delivered to the power grid for the data centre or co-location facility under a new power capacity agreement or a self-generation arrangement.

No levy is payable on computing equipment that is the personal property of an Indian or band situated on a reserve. An operator liable to pay the levy for a calendar year must file a return and pay the levy on or before the end of the 14th calendar month after the end of the calendar year. The Provincial Minister may enter into an agreement with an operator or a prospective operator under which the levy payable for each calendar year is determined in accordance with the agreement.

A corporation may deduct from its Alberta corporate tax an amount not exceeding the lesser of its data centre levy tax credit and the tax otherwise payable. The Financial Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 (No. 2) received Royal Assent on December 11, 2025. Section 2 of that Act, which adds the levy and the credit, comes into force on January 1, 2026.

Source: Full text of law