TL;DR: The Anthropic Nova Scotia data centre deal is the Claude maker’s first data centre agreement in Canada. Anthropic will lease the first 95-megawatt phase of a new campus that EverWind Fuels is building at Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, for at least 20 years, and Anthropic says the site will power Claude models. EverWind puts the whole project, including four wind farms, at more than $10 billion. The first phase is due online in late 2027, with a 325 MW expansion targeted for 2028. The lease value hasn’t been disclosed, and grid studies for the expansion are still pending.
The Anthropic Nova Scotia data centre deal is the clearest sign yet that the Claude maker wants computing capacity of its own outside the United States. EverWind announced the Point Tupper campus on Friday, October 16, at first naming its tenant only as “a leading frontier AI developer.” Anthropic confirmed later the same day that it was the company, The Globe and Mail reported. Reuters said it is Anthropic’s first data centre agreement in Canada, citing a company executive.
Here’s what was announced, what’s still unknown, and why it matters.
The Anthropic Nova Scotia data centre deal at a glance
| Detail | What’s been reported |
|---|---|
| Location | Point Tupper industrial park, near Port Hawkesbury, Cape Breton |
| Builder and owner | EverWind Fuels, based in Halifax |
| Tenant | Anthropic, for the first phase |
| Lease term | At least 20 years (CBC); 20 years (Canadian Press) |
| Phase 1 | 95 MW, targeted for late 2027 |
| Phase 2 | 325 MW expansion targeted for 2028, subject to conditions |
| Total planned capacity | 420 MW |
| Investment (EverWind’s figures) | About $8 billion for the campus plus $2 billion for wind projects |
| Lease value | Not disclosed |
What Anthropic is getting
EverWind will build and own the facility, and Anthropic will lease the first phase. In its own release, quoted by CBC News, Anthropic said the data centre “will power Claude models and serve growing demand from Canadian and global customers.” The Canadian Press, also citing that release, reported that Anthropic described Canada as the sixth-largest user of Claude in the world.
The first phase is 95 megawatts. For scale, CBC noted that Nova Scotia’s total electricity generating capacity is close to 3,000 MW. If both phases are built, the campus would reach 420 MW, or roughly one-seventh of the province’s current generating capacity.
Bloomberg described the deal as Anthropic agreeing to buy capacity at a project worth more than C$10 billion (about US$7.1 billion). Anthropic hasn’t said how much computing it will actually run there or which chips the site will use.
Timeline
- Now: Land clearing is underway, and officials told CBC they hope to pour foundations before winter.
- Late 2027: The 95 MW first phase is scheduled to come online.
- 2028: The 325 MW second phase is targeted, “subject to commercial, technical and regulatory conditions,” according to EverWind.
Who pays for the power
Electricity is the sensitive part of any data centre project, and both companies addressed it directly. EverWind and Anthropic said they will pay for any upgrades to Nova Scotia’s power system the project requires, so the cost isn’t passed on to existing customers. The Globe and Mail reported that the companies pledged to fund all connection, upgrade and other power-system costs tied to the development.
The longer-term plan is to supply the site with wind power. EverWind says $2 billion will go toward four onshore wind farms in its portfolio: Bear Lake, Windy Ridge, Kmtnuk and Upper Afton. The Membertou First Nation and Mi’kmaq Nation communities are EverWind’s partners in that wind portfolio, according to The Globe and Mail.
There’s a gap in that plan, though. The Globe reported that the data centre is expected to start operating before the wind farms are finished, and that its effect on the provincial grid is still being analyzed for system costs, reliability and customer impact. CBC reported that Nova Scotia’s Independent Energy System Operator studies every new project before it connects and did not specifically confirm capacity for this campus. EverWind officials said they had been assured there is capacity at least for phase one.
Water use and jobs
EverWind says the campus will use a closed-loop water-glycol cooling system. Its preliminary estimate, reported by CBC, is an average of 100,000 litres of water per day for the first phase and 500,000 litres per day once both phases are running.
On jobs, EverWind’s release says the project would support 2,000 construction jobs and 215 permanent operating positions across the data centre campus and the wind farms. Those are the company’s own projections.
How it will be financed
EverWind, led by chief executive Trent Vichie, said it is raising $8 billion in private capital for the campus and another $2 billion for the wind projects. Chief financial and strategy officer Matthew Tinari told The Globe and Mail that the project is “structured to access the deep and active project financing market for long-term data centre developments,” that the company has engaged investment banks to issue the debt, and that each phase will be financed separately.
EverWind calls it the largest private investment in Nova Scotia’s history. That claim, like the dollar figures, depends on the financing actually closing.
Why this matters for Anthropic and the AI race
AI labs are scrambling to lock up power and buildings years in advance. Big Tech is on pace to spend around $725 billion on AI infrastructure this year, and deals don’t always survive: Microsoft recently walked away from Nscale’s UK data centre deal weeks before a major milestone.
For Anthropic, a long lease on a dedicated campus gives it predictable capacity in a country where it says Claude use is already high. It also fits the company’s broader push to grow, which has included committing 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund.
For Nova Scotia, the project promises investment and jobs, but it also raises the same questions every large data centre faces: whether the grid can handle it, who pays if it can’t, and how much water and land it will use.
What’s still unknown
- The dollar value of Anthropic’s lease. EverWind declined to disclose it.
- Whether grid studies will clear the 325 MW expansion, and when.
- Whether EverWind’s financing for both phases will close on schedule.
- How much of the site’s power will come from wind in its early years, before the wind farms are complete.
The bottom line
Anthropic now has a named, long-term home for Claude computing in Canada, starting with 95 MW in late 2027. The bigger 420 MW vision is still a plan that depends on financing, grid approvals and wind farms that haven’t been built yet. Watch for the provincial system studies and any update on construction milestones over the next year.
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