Alberta has announced Amazon Web Services will invest 4.3 billion in the province.
The multibillion-dollar investment is to develop a new cloud computing operation in Calgary which is estimated to create close to 1,000 new jobs.
According to Amazon’s press release, the new AWS Canada West Region will be available in late 2023/early 2024.
Regarding the investment, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation Doug Schweitzer said, “ Alberta is on track for a record year in venture capital and tech investment, creating thousands of jobs and diversifying our economy. This transformative investment from Amazon Web Services clearly demonstrates Alberta is a top destination for tech investment and talent.”
This is AWS Canada’s 2nd hub following the AWS Canada (Central) Region in Montreal.
Amazon says the new AWS Canada West Region will consist of three Availability Zones at launch. Each Availability Zone has independent power, cooling, and physical security, and is connected through redundant, ultra-low latency networks. The AWS Canada West Region will enable customers with data residency preferences to securely store data in Canada while providing even lower latency across the country and more flexibility to run applications across multiple Regions.
AWS Economic Impact Study
Amazon’s economic impact study (EIS) estimates the company’s spending on construction and the operation of the new Calgary centre and Montreal centre will together create more than 5,000 new jobs with an estimated investment of over $21 billion in the local economies by 2037. Both infrastructure Regions will add an estimated $39 billion to Canada’s GDP over the same time period.
AWS and Mount Royal University have also teamed up to deliver the AWS re/Start program through Calgary’s EDGE UP 2.0 program, in early 2022.
Calgary Economic Development Ltd. says the AWS re/Start job skills training program in Calgary will prepare displaced oil and gas professionals, for entry level roles in cloud and connect them to potential employers as part of Amazon’s commitment to help 29 million people around the world grow their tech skills with free cloud computing training by 2025.
Amazon has also invested in two renewable energy projects in Alberta — an 80 megawatt (MW) solar project in Newell County, which is also the first renewable energy project in Canada which is estimated to produce 195,000-megawatt hours of renewable energy to the grid, enough to power more than 18,000 homes for a year and a 375 MW solar farm in Vulcan, the largest renewable energy project in Canada to power more than 100,000 homes for a year.
Globally, AWS has 81 Availability Zones across 25 geographic regions, with plans to launch 27 more Availability Zones and nine more AWS Regions in Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Israel, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.