Tech Roundup
July 14, 2026

Data centres and AI

• Tech giant Meta says it will spend $60 million on local infrastructure upgrades and generate about $250 million a year in provincial benefits through royalties, taxes, and fees, when it builds a $13-billion data centre in Sturgeon County. The project is expected to create 3,000 construction jobs and 300 operational jobs. The data centre's one-gigawatt energy load is about two-thirds of what Edmonton currently uses and roughly 10 times the load of the largest data centre that TELUS is planning to build in B.C.
• Capital Power will supply 250 megawatts of energy for Meta's new data centre northeast of Edmonton until the completion of a recently approved gas-fired power plant. Katrina Ingram of Ethically Aligned AI criticized the messaging that the plant is "bring your own power" because it will run on a reallocation of power sources for up to a decade. The facility will use a closed-loop, liquid-cooling system that Meta says will minimize water use, though Ingram noted that such a system uses more energy.
• Capital Power CEO Avik Dey contributed to a publication about Canada's ability to fill a gap in the global supply of GenAI compute capacity. "AI infrastructure will be one of the most consequential assets of the next decade, and the world is not going to build enough of it. The deficit is a function of long lead times, constrained power and land in dense markets, and an appetite for compute capacity that is outrunning supply," the publication said. "For Canada, that gap is not a threat. It is a market."
• Alberta's Ministry of Technology and Innovation has been using Anthropic's Claude models to review government code for security flaws, according to a case study Anthropic published on the effort. A team of AI agents scanned 466 million lines of code across the ministry's systems in 20 hours, finding and fixing vulnerabilities that could otherwise have taken years to catch, said Minister of Technology and Innovation Nate Glubish. "This is what responsible government looks like in the AI era, and the best is still ahead of us," he posted. The province has also released more than 21 open-source technical white papers, dubbed the Velocity Papers, so other governments can follow its approach. "We hope that this work provides a meaningful set of insights for other governments to scale and grow their own AI capabilities, and look forward to opportunities for collaboration," deputy minister Janak Alford posted.
• Concerns are escalating around the proposed Wonder Valley AI data centre in the Peace Country due to its water usage and lack of environmental oversight. The project faces scrutiny from local residents, Indigenous leaders, and agricultural advocates, especially after a public engagement session on June 4 left attendees dissatisfied with the information provided, Postmedia reported.

Headlines

• The Alberta government is investing $37 million through Emissions Reduction Alberta's Drilling Technology Challenge to support 10 projects — worth nearly $179 million combined — aimed at improving drilling efficiency and safety in oil and gas, geothermal, and critical mineral development. Two Nisku-based projects received funding: $3.1 million for Calgary's Precision Drilling for a project to demonstrate robotic automation and pipe-handling to improve drilling, and $2.6 million for Ontario-based CleanDesign's project to demonstrate software that optimizes drilling power use. Edmonton's Phase Advanced Sensor Systems received $420,000 to develop and test high-temperature downhole pressure sensors for geothermal wells.
• Annie Poirier created a dating app called Oops Social after becoming fed up with typical dating apps like Hinge and Tinder. "From my own experience with the dating apps, you go on there, and you get ghosted, and I think it's normal for people to ghost people — they don't care about you because they never felt anything," Poirier told Taproot. "They just swiped on a face, and there was no chemistry to start with." The app, which has no swiping and voice notes instead of texts, opened to about 160 beta testers in June after Poirier received coaching from Edmonton Unlimited to help her bring the idea to life.
• Swift Charge is now pursuing growth beyond hospitality after securing a contract with InnVest Hotels to install more than 300 EV chargers at over 70 hotels across Canada. "We're already starting to see the ceiling as a hotel-focused operation," co-founder and CEO Sheldon Zhang told Taproot from China, where he was visiting manufacturers. "We're significantly winning in the hospitality segment in Canada already, so we have to expand beyond hotels."
• Excelsior founder Mark Benning was a guest on the Executive Wins podcast to discuss what it takes to build a successful venture capital firm in Western Canada.
• Future Fields CEO Matt Anderson-Baron talked to SynBioBeta about the company's EntoEngine platform and what it means for pharmaceutical teams having trouble with difficult-to-express proteins.
• Edmonton Unlimited hosted a workshop on intellectual property strategy for life sciences companies, at which Dentons lawyers emphasized that IP extends well beyond patents. From the outset, founders should ensure that their company owns the IP being created, the workshop heard.
• The Federation of African Canadian Economics is bringing its Melamoon pitch competition to Edmonton on July 18. It's the fourth stop on a five-city national tour designed to connect Black founders with capital and visibility. Top performers at the Jamaica Association of Northern Alberta's downtown JANA Centre will advance toward the Toronto grand finale, where $200,000 in non-dilutive funding will be awarded.

Jobs and opportunities

• Jobber is hiring a data scientist.
• The University of Alberta is hiring a software engineer.
• The City of Edmonton is hiring a user experience developer.
• The Alberta government is hiring a manager for innovation agency governance.
• Applications are open until Aug. 31 for Edmonton Unlimited's post-secondary startup showcase during Edmonton Startup Week in October.
• The application deadline for Alberta Capital Connect, offered in partnership with the ASTech Awards, has been extended until Aug. 18.
• Registration is open for Femtech Connect from Antigoni Studios in Edmonton on Sept. 21 during Life Sciences Week.

Happenings

Here are some events coming up over the next seven days:

• July 15: Community Coffee starting at 9am at Edmonton Unlimited
• July 16: Startup TNT Edmonton Happy Hour starting at 6pm at Pub 1905
• July 17: Edmonton AI Tech & Finance Networking Event starting at 7pm at The Bell in Scona
• July 17-26: KDays Innovation Zone at Edmonton EXPO Centre
• July 20: ERIN Member Monday starting at 10am online

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• Aug. 1-4: BioRob 2026 at Edmonton Convention Centre
• Aug. 26: Tech For Good Alliance Working Group at Arcadia Brewing Co.
• Sept. 9: Aerospace Accelerator Program Online Info Session online

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.