Anthropic leases its first Canadian data centre in Nova Scotia

Anthropic has agreed to lease a new data centre being built at Point Tupper, near Port Hawkesbury on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. CBC News reported on October 16, 2026 that EverWind Fuels will build and own the site, while Anthropic takes the first phase for at least 20 years to run its Claude models for Canadian and global customers.

The campus will be built in two stages. The first, at 95 megawatts, is due online by the end of 2027, and a 325 megawatt second phase is planned for 2028, for 420 megawatts in total. For scale, Nova Scotia's whole generating capacity is close to 3,000 megawatts. EverWind says it is raising about $8 billion for the data centre and another $2 billion for four onshore wind farms that would eventually help power it, though the existing grid will supply it at first. Both companies say they will pay for any grid upgrades needed.

Land clearing has started. EverWind plans a closed-loop cooling system and estimates average water use of about 100,000 litres a day for phase one, drawn from nearby Landrie Lake. Local and federal politicians welcomed the project, while the Ecology Action Centre said it wants proper studies of the effect on power bills and the environment first.

Why it matters

AI labs are now competing for power and land around the world, and data centre deals are becoming local political issues over energy and water.

Source: CBC News