EverWind Fuels has announced plans to develop a 95-megawatt AI data centre in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, which will be leased to the U.S.-based firm Anthropic. unveiled on October 16, 2026, the project is slated to begin operations by the end of 2027.
The 95-megawatt bet on Point Tupper
The proposed facility in Point Tupper will cover 18,600 square metres and initially draw 95 megawatts of electricity. According to the report, EverWind Fuels intends to scale this capacity to 325 megawatts by mid-2028. To maintain alignment with provincial climate goals, EverWind Fuels plans to power the entire operation using its existing regional wind farms.
This infrastructure is designed to support the computational demands of Anthropic, a leading artificial intelligence company. The project represents what EverWind Fuels CEO Trent Vichie describes as the largest private investment in Nova Scotia's history,though the specific financial terms of the 20-year lease with Anthropic remain undisclosed.
215 permanent roles and the $185,000 salary promise
From a labor perspective, EverWind Fuels forecasts that the construction phase will generate approximately 2,000 jobs across the region. Once operaational, the site is expected to support 215 permanent positions, split evenly between the data centre and the supporting wind farms. As reported , Trent Vichie claims these permanent roles will command annual salaries ranging from $135,000 to $185,000.
While these figures are impreessive, some experts suggest the economic impact may be skewed. Sean Mullin of the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy notes that while such facilities do not match the employment volume of an automobile factory, the high-value roles can still provide a meaningful boost to small communities in the Cape Breton Peninsula.
Michael McCluskey and the 18,000-signature protest
The project has not met with universal approval, as evidenced by a Change.org petition that has garnreed over 18,000 signatures. Michael McCluskey, a retired military veteran from Dartmouth, argues that Nova Scotia risks being left with a costly, underutilised facility if Anthropic eventually abandons the venture.
This skepticism is echoed by tech critic Paris Marx, author of "Hyperscale," who warns that "citadel-scale" operations often impose public costs that outweigh private benefits. Marx specifically points to the risk of spiking electricity rates and increased water consumption, patterns already observed in various U.S. regions hosting similar AI infrastructure.
Nova Scotia's lead in Canada's 22.7-gigawatt AI race
Nova Scotia is the first Canadian province to publicly propose a large-scale AI data centre, signaling a broader national shift toward securing energy-rich sites for compute power. A York University report cited in the coverage highlights the scale of this trend: Canada's existing 194 data centres use 1.6 gigawatts of power, but a staggering 22.7 gigawatts are currently proposed or under construction.
EverWind Fuels is attempting to integrate this AI hub with its other industrial ambitions in the region. The company maintains that the Anthropic facility will complement,rather than replace,its plans to build a wind-powered hydrogen plant for green hydrogen export via the Cape Breton marine terminal.
The undisclosed terms of the Anthropic lease
Despite the detailed power specifications, several critical gaps remain in the public record. the most prominent is the lack of transparency regarding the undisclosed terms of the 20-year lease between EverWind Fuels and Anthropic, leaving the actual guaranteed revenue for the province unclear.
Furthermore, while the report mentions general concerns about water consumption, EverWind Fuels has not provided specific data on the volume of water the Point Tupper site will require for cooling. It remains to be seen if the provincial government has verified the company's claim that the facility will not interfere with the planned hydrogen export project.
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