For more than 40 years, Microsoft has supported and scaled Canadian innovation. Now, with more than 5,300 employees and 11 offices across Canada, Microsoft Canada’s technology ecosystem is a trusted partner and key driver of economic opportunity across the country, with $60 billion contributed to Canada’s GDP each year through our cloud customers and partner network and more than 426,000 jobs supported—over 2% of Canada’s workforce.  

As we look ahead, we are proud to be building the critical infrastructure Canada needs to power its digital future. 

In December 2025, Microsoft announced the largest investment in our history in Canada, a $19 billion commitment between 2023 and 2027 to expand cloud and AI infrastructure, strengthen digital sovereignty, advance cybersecurity, and support skills and jobs for Canadians. 

Today, as we move from investment to implementation, we want to share how we are putting those commitments into practice through a Community-First approach to AI infrastructure, one that is globally consistent in principle and delivered in ways that reflect Canada’s communities, institutions, and priorities. 

Community First, Built for Canada 

AI infrastructure brings enormous opportunity. But we know Canadians also have real questions about affordability, energy and water use, jobs, and the impact large-scale infrastructure has on local communities. 

Those questions matter. Technological progress only works when communities see themselves in the benefits.  

At Microsoft, we believe communities should share in the benefits of AI infrastructure, and they should not bear the costs. That belief is reflected in five Community–First principles that guide how we build and operate datacentres around the world—and how we partner locally in Canada: 

Together, these principles shape how we build and operate our datacentres across Ontario and Québec and how we partner with governments, utilities, educators, community organizations, labour groups, and local nonprofits.

Below, we outline what each principle means in practice and the concrete steps we are taking to put these commitments into action here in Canada.

Paying our way on electricity

As Canada expands AI and cloud capacity, electricity systems are under pressure. Microsoft is committed to ensuring that our datacentres do not increase electricity prices for Canadians. In practical terms, this means that our infrastructure growth must be matched by responsible planning, full cost recovery, and investments that support long-term system reliability.

While electricity systems are provincially governed and solutions vary by region, our commitment is consistent across the country: AI infrastructure growth must support grid resilience and affordability for communities.

To deliver on this principle, Microsoft will:

  • Work closely with provinces, utilities, system operators, and regulators to plan new supply in advance
  • Design and operate highly energy-efficient datacentres
  • Support public policies that advance affordable, reliable, and sustainable power
  • Pay the full cost of the electricity we use, including the cost of new generation, transmission, and grid upgrades

Our commitment in action

In Ontario and Québec, we are working closely with provincial governments, utilities, system operators, and regulators to align datacentre growth with planned investments in generation and transmission.

We pay the full cost of the electricity we use. We also continue to design and operate next-generation datacentres that are significantly more energy efficient, reducing the amount of energy required for each unit of computing while scaling to meet growing demand.

To date, we have also paid for substations and fully dedicated the substations and land to provincial utilities. By paying our full share and planning ahead, we aim to support Canada’s economic growth without overstressing the electric grid or shifting costs onto households or small businesses.

Managing water responsibly 

Canada’s cooler climate is a real advantage when it comes to water stewardship. In Ontario and Québec, our datacentres are designed with a reduction-first approach, relying primarily on outside air and using water for cooling less than 5% of the year. When water is used, it is cycled efficiently through the system multiple times and managed in compliance with local regulations. This results in relatively low projected water withdrawals that reflect both local conditions and responsible designs. 

Microsoft’s approach to water in Canada prioritizes: 

  • Minimizing potable water use through efficient design and advanced, industry-leading cooling technologies that maximize free air cooling, limiting the use of water 
  • Transparency and early engagement with provincial and local authorities on water decisions 

Where communities identify opportunities to strengthen local water systems, we believe infrastructure investment should contribute to broader watershed health, not compete with it. 

Our commitment in action 

To bring this principle to life, Microsoft is taking locally grounded steps to strengthen water systems in the Canadian communities where we operate. 

In Ontario and Québec, we will partner on region–specific water projects that improve infrastructure resilience, restore watersheds, and support long-term stewardship. These projects, developed with local governments, conservation partners, and research institutions, include: 

  • Rainwater harvesting: We design our facilities to make use of what is already available. We’ve implemented rainwater harvesting that further offsets freshwater demand. Our on‑site systems are projected to capture approximately 1.5 million litres of rainwater per year for use in datacentre operations. 
  • LEED Gold certification is incorporated into Canadian datacentre designs. All Canadian datacentres will be monitored throughout the construction lifecycle and will undergo the certification process as they near completion.  
  • Wetland and watershed restoration initiatives that improve water quality and reduce flood risk, including supporting Ducks Unlimited Canada to plant hundreds of trees and shrubs in the Lorette River Watershed. 
  • Projects that strengthen monitoring, conservation, and long-term ecosystem health, including a donation toward the preservation of 325 acres of wetland in the Niagara Escarpment. 

Together, these efforts reflect a reduction first approach: minimizing reliance on potable water in our datacentres while investing in the resilience of shared water systems communities depend on every day. 

Creating jobs and economic opportunity 

In Canada, Microsoft’s datacentre construction is delivered through unionized skilled trades labour, supporting high quality jobs, strong safety standards, and apprenticeship pathways. Beyond construction, our focus is on building durable pathways into long–term careers connected to AI infrastructure and the digital economy. Through partnerships with educators, workforce organizations, and labour groups, Microsoft is working to ensure that Canadians can access the jobs created by this investment. 

Our commitment in action

We are advancing this principle through several concrete steps: 

  • Increasing transparency: We will publish clearer information on the jobs created and local suppliers engaged at our Canadian datacentre sites. This will include aggregated national figures, with local detail available where appropriate, providing communities, governments, and stakeholders with a clearer picture of how AI infrastructure investment supports local economies. Microsoft’s datacentre builds in Canada employ approximately 2,000 individuals across sites during construction. Additionally, more than 400 Canadian businesses are involved during the construction phase. Once built and operational, Microsoft’s Canadian datacentres will employ approximately 250 FTEs, and approximately 400 contractors to maintain and operate its sites.  
  • Deepening labour partnerships: We will continue to work with Canadian trade unions and workforce organizations, leveraging existing North American relationships and Canadian labour expertise to support safe, skilled, and inclusive job creation. 

Contributing to local communities 

Datacentres are long–term investments. They contribute directly to municipal tax bases, helping fund essential public services, without asking for special tax treatment. 

The arrival of a corporate citizen like Microsoft is a real benefit to our community in L’Ancienne-Lorette, particularly through significant contribution to municipal tax revenues. It also points to a positive impact on community engagement, with discussions already underway.” 

-  Gaétan Pageau, Mayor, City of L’Ancienne-Lorette

Strong communities are essential to sustainable growth. That is why Microsoft invests not only in infrastructure, but also in the social and economic foundations that support it.   

Our commitment in action 

Across Ontario and Québec, we are continuing to expand partnerships that support: 

  • Workforce training and economic inclusion, including digital skilling for underrepresented groups through NPower Canada 
  • Donations to support environmental conservation, restoration, and climate resilience projects with Ducks Unlimited Canada 
  • Digital access and community led innovation, including support for local community projects through the Microsoft community funds 

These investments help ensure that AI infrastructure contributes to the vitality of the communities where it is built.

Investing in skills and what comes next 

Infrastructure alone is not enough. The real opportunity comes when its benefits are widely shared. It is the foundation upon which others build: startups launching new ideas, researchers advancing discovery, educators preparing the next generation, and governments and communities solving real challenges. 

To fully realize the promise of AI, Canadians must have access to the skills, tools, and opportunities to participate in, and shape the AI economy. That means ensuring AI doesn’t remain concentrated in a few places or organizations, but instead diffuses across our economy and communities, empowering people in every sector to innovate, build, and lead. 

Our commitment in action 

Microsoft is announcing several new Canada specific actions to expand access to AI and digital skills: 

  • Launching national AI skilling initiatives: Through Microsoft Elevate, we are launching a new National AI Skilling Grant with Digital Moment to expand AI Education Training, delivering free, bilingual AI workshops and classroom ready resources to 20,000 educators and students across the country. 
  • Advancing Indigenous AI fluency: Microsoft Elevate is partnering with Ampere and the Pinnguaq Foundation to further support Indigenous AI Fluency and Workforce Readiness Hubs – a national network of 13 makerspaces supporting AI learning, data privacy, and workforce readiness for youth and communities, including integration supporting teachers and students in Nunavut’s K–12 and post-secondary education system. 
  • Empowering the nonprofit sector: In Canada, we are launching Microsoft Elevate for Changemakers and AI for Nonprofits credential through a community-led approach in partnership with Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience (CCNDR) and Digital Moment. CCNDR anchors the work in nonprofit trust, sector insight, and national reach, while Digital Moment will lead with high quality training and delivery in both official languages. Together, this new credential will equip 5,000 nonprofit professionals and leaders across Canada with practical, responsible AI skills they can apply immediately in their work. 

Building the future, together 

AI infrastructure is most powerful when it is built with trust, transparency, and partnership. That is why our approach starts and ends with communities. We are committed to building AI infrastructure in Canada in a way that earns trust, supports local priorities, and strengthens long –term prosperity. As this work continues, we will keep listening, learning, and engaging, because building the future of AI means building it with communities, not just in them. 

 

 

Tags: AI

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