Anthropic Picks Nova Scotia for Its First Data Centre in Canada
EverWind will build a 420 megawatt campus at Point Tupper and lease the first phase to Anthropic for at least 20 years, in a project priced at more than 10 billion Canadian dollars.
Key points
- Anthropic has signed a lease for data centre space at Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, the company's first data centre agreement in Canada.
- The first phase covers about 18,600 square metres and would draw 95 megawatts of power.
- EverWind put the full price at more than 10 billion Canadian dollars: about 8 billion for the data centre campus and 2 billion more for four onshore wind farms.
Anthropic has signed a lease for data centre space at Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, the company's first data centre agreement in Canada. EverWind will build the site, just outside Port Hawkesbury in Cape Breton, and Anthropic will lease the first phase for a term of at least 20 years. The two companies announced the deal at Point Tupper on Friday.
The first phase covers about 18,600 square metres and would draw 95 megawatts of power. It is due to come online late in 2027. A second phase would add 325 megawatts in 2028, taking the site to 420 megawatts in total. Nova Scotia's whole generating capacity is close to 3,000 megawatts, so the finished campus would sit among the largest single power users in the province.
A 10 billion dollar project
EverWind put the full price at more than 10 billion Canadian dollars: about 8 billion for the data centre campus and 2 billion more for four onshore wind farms. The company called it the largest privately funded investment in Nova Scotia's history and said it is raising the 8 billion in private capital. It expects about 2,000 construction jobs and 215 permanent jobs, with the permanent roles paying between 135,000 and 185,000 dollars a year.
Anthropic said the site will run its Claude models and serve demand from customers in Canada and around the world. The company said Canada is the sixth largest user of Claude worldwide. Jacob Glick, who leads Anthropic's public policy work in Canada, said the company would protect ratepayers and water resources and make sure local communities benefit.
Power, water and local stakes
EverWind said it will pay for any upgrades the provincial grid needs for the project, and that its four wind farms would in time help supply the site. The wind farms will not be ready when the data centre opens. The province's grid operator has studied the plan and found the existing system can carry the first phase.
Cooling will use a closed loop water and glycol system. The company estimates average water use at 100,000 litres a day for the first phase and 500,000 litres a day once both phases run, drawn from Landrie Lake. That is about one percent of the lake's approved daily withdrawal limit of 34 million litres.
Land clearing is already under way, and the company hopes to pour foundations before winter. A group of Mi'kmaw communities, led by Membertou First Nation, is in talks to take a nine percent stake in the project. The Point Tupper site also hosts EverWind's planned green hydrogen and ammonia plant, which the company said it still intends to build.
Support, and questions
Premier Tim Houston joined the announcement and praised the investment as a sign of what the province can attract. Politicians from all three levels of government attended.
Not everyone is sold. The Ecology Action Centre said the plan raises more questions than it answers and called for a full study of the effects on ratepayers and the environment. Provincial NDP leader Claudia Chender said the government is backing the project without public discussion or clear rules to shield households from higher power costs. EverWind said it has signed on to Ottawa's responsible data centre principles, released last month, and to similar provincial guidelines on local benefits, water use and power rates.