EverWind Fuels Co. has put forward plans for a $10-billion outlay covering a data centre campus on Cape Breton Island alongside a broader onshore wind build-out across mainland Nova Scotia — a scale of private-sector spending the company characterises as the largest of its kind ever directed at the province.

Roughly 2,000 workers are anticipated to find employment during the construction phase, with a further 215 roles expected to remain once the facility moves into full operation, bringing a range of financial returns to nearby communities.

EverWind is bearing the full cost of the capital programme — channelling over $8 billion toward building and financing a data centre, alongside a further $2 billion directed at its onshore wind portfolio, bringing the combined outlay to roughly $10 billion.

Kody Blois, the Kings-Hants MP serving as parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, told those gathered at Friday's event that developments of this kind are uncommon in Nova Scotia, framing the day as one the province would long remember. EverWind put forward separate projections placing the data centre's construction-phase contribution to gross domestic product at $1.9 billion, with a further $136 million in annual GDP output anticipated once the facility reaches full operational capacity.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston described the investment as a sign that the province was gaining traction economically while also meeting a wider Canadian demand for computing infrastructure capable of handling sensitive data, adding that the province was experiencing a period of strong forward movement of which this latest development formed a part. Houston made the case that domestic computing infrastructure underpins a wide range of essential services — from patient records and financial transactions to mobile applications and day-to-day business operations — and that the country's own capacity to handle that processing load needs to expand.

Calls for strengthening both general and data-related infrastructure have been put forward.

Combined across its data centre and wind energy portfolio, EverWind's own projections put the total municipal tax contribution from those assets at more than $400 million over the full operating lifespan of each development. Tens of millions of dollars have been earmarked by the organisation toward a first-phase community development effort covering the Strait region.

EverWind's Trent Vichie outlined a workforce picture in which roles spanning operations, maintenance, cooling systems, and electrical infrastructure would carry above-average pay and require specialised training, drawing from talent already present in the area while opening pathways for workers to develop additional technical expertise — with those direct positions sitting alongside the broader employment activity expected to flow through local businesses and services.

Vichie framed the investment as a vehicle for pairing Nova Scotia's natural resource base with expansion in the knowledge economy, arguing that both pillars were needed to sustain economic resilience. EverWind noted that more than 20 contracts across the province — covering civil and electrical work, trucking, engineering, environmental services, equipment supply, and project services — were already in progress.

Planned for Point Tupper's industrial park in Cape Breton — on land adjacent to EverWind's proposed green hydrogen and ammonia facility — the data centre campus is set to take shape across two construction phases, with the first phase scheduled to begin serving customers by late 2027 and the second following a year later. Spanning roughly 200,000 square feet of warehouse space at Point Tupper, the opening stage of the project calls for a generating capacity of 95 megawatts. Once the second phase concludes, the facility will be operating at its full generation capacity of 420 megawatts.

Under a long-term lease arrangement, EverWind has secured an agreement with an undisclosed artificial intelligence developer described as a frontier operator, with the project set to incorporate a 200-megawatt battery storage bank carrying several hundred megawatt hours of capacity to meet the facility's power requirements.

Four onshore wind developments — Bear Lake, Windy Ridge, Kmtnuk, and Upper Afton — are set to receive a combined $2 billion in funding, with the outlay aimed at keeping pace with rising electricity consumption from industrial users. Spanning northeastern Nova Scotia, 80 turbines spread across the combined developments are projected to generate a wind-power output of 650 megawatts.

Electricity drawn from the provincial grid will power the data centre at the outset, with wind generation gradually taking on a larger share of that demand over time, EverWind indicated. Capacity to handle the first phase was confirmed through a system-impact assessment carried out by the provincial grid operator.

Talks over a nine per cent ownership share in the data centre are under way, with Membertou Development Corp. heading a consortium drawn from First Nations communities. Under the proposed arrangement, a 51 per cent controlling stake in the wind portfolio would rest with the consortium.

EverWind has taken on full financial responsibility for all grid connections, transmission infrastructure, network upgrades, and any other power system expenditures tied to the development, with a company representative stating that none of those costs would be passed along to Nova Scotia electricity customers — framing the arrangement as one where rate increases driven by the project would not fall on other users of the grid.

A sealed pipe network carrying a water-glycol blend will handle thermal management at the data centre, EverWind noted, with the mixture recirculating internally rather than being released as routine discharge. Landrie Lake, the water source already serving Port Hawkesbury and nearby industrial customers, is set to supply the new development as well. Permits granting access to the water supply are already in place, according to EverWind.

Withdrawals of as much as 34 million litres each day from the lake have received authorisation from the provincial regulator. At full operation, the data centre's electricity draw would account for roughly 1.5 per cent of that daily supply total, according to EverWind. During its opening phase, the project is projected to draw roughly 100,000 litres of water each day, a figure that would climb to 500,000 litres once the second phase comes online alongside the first.

Vichie attributed the province's temperate conditions to reduced demand for water-based cooling systems through most of the year, noting that operating in such an environment draws on fewer resources overall. Blois pointed out that the facility's projected water use would fall below that of certain fish-processing operations elsewhere in Nova Scotia. Separately, EverWind stated that its green hydrogen and ammonia project at Point Tupper remains oriented toward supplying customers in European markets.

The facility and data centre are planned as components of a wider energy hub, operating side by side through shared infrastructure and energy resources. Vichie described the hydrogen project as a direct complement to that arrangement and noted that EverWind's role centres on advancing investments positioned for near-term deployment, adding that while the hydrogen market remains in an early stage of development, the company continues to pursue commercial opportunities and that those discussions are ongoing.