Canada’s emerging data centre industry is poised to create investment opportunities well beyond technology stocks, with construction, power and industrial companies set to benefit from a multi-year expansion, according to a new report from BMO Capital Markets.
The report, released during the Canadian Investment Summit, which placed a spotlight on AI infrastructure, identified a handful of Canadian companies positioned across three segments of the buildout: construction, power equipment and contracted electricity supply.
Bird Construction is the anchor contractor for Bell’s AI Fabric facility in Saskatchewan, which broke ground on an initial 300-megawatt phase and has since been expanded to 1.2 gigawatts. While the company has not yet been selected to build the additional 900 megawatts, its existing partnership with Bell leaves it well placed to secure further work.
In power equipment, Finning International is positioned to supply backup and prime power solutions for data centre projects in Western Canada. Toromont Industries is also benefiting, with its AVL business winning significant awards and ramping production capacity.
On the power supply side, TransAlta is the most direct way to play the buildout in Alberta. The company can deliver contracted power to hyperscalers using its existing sites, giving it among the highest leverage to the provincial expansion.
BMO estimates that Canada could ultimately develop between 15 and 20 gigawatts of data centre capacity, compared with a total North American addressable demand of roughly 200 gigawatts over the next decade. About 50 gigawatts has already been built across the continent.
Large-scale data centre construction has until now been concentrated in the U.S., leaving Canada with a minimal share. But with Bell’s Saskatchewan facility now under way, and strong demand coupled with an increasingly supportive investment framework, Canadian capacity is expected to scale rapidly from a near-zero base.
Alberta and Saskatchewan are leading the charge, with both provinces’ premiers publicly backing the buildout. Ontario, which has already developed a strong regulatory framework and hosts smaller operating centres, is also expected to see large-scale projects. All three provinces are currently attractive locations for data centre development.
Power remains the single biggest constraint. Long lead times on backup power equipment are expected to extend the duration of the buildout and limit how quickly individual projects can come online. Cooling is the second key bottleneck. As data centres grow in size, liquid cooling requirements are rising and adding to costs. Canada’s colder climate offers a natural advantage on that front.
Canada also benefits from access to cheap natural gas, which the report sees as a key differentiator. The Bell facility in Saskatchewan will be grid-powered, while Meta’s Alberta project uses behind-the-meter power. Still, the report cautioned that power availability and permitting are not yet fully secured across all proposed projects.
