Rocky View County: The Fate of an AI Data Centre

Angela Duta, Gurleen Mangat

Product #:W51849

Supplier:Ivey/Haskayne

Discipline:Strategy, Sustainability

Setting:Canada, 2025

Details:Case (PDF) • 8 pages • 2026-10-07

Your Price:

$10.54

Purchase this material with a free Educator Account and enjoy more benefits:

Free Educator Copy
Free Teaching Notes
Build your coursepack
Discounted academic price

Agriculture had historically played a foundational role in the economic and cultural identity of Rocky View County (hereinafter, “Rocky View”), a municipal district surrounding the City of Calgary in southern Alberta, Canada. But the region’s location near a major metropolitan area and highways, coupled with the Government of Alberta’s push for hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investment to boost the local economy, had also made it an attractive location for AI data centre development. On September 9, 2025, the council of Rocky View convened to discuss a proposal to establish a hyperscale AI data centre campus occupying over 1,100 acres of agricultural land near the hamlet of Balzac. The council had to determine whether approving or rejecting the proposal would more effectively secure Rocky View’s long-term prosperity and resilience—a decision that could permanently redefine Rocky View’s physical character and economic trajectory.

Learning Objectives

This case examines a municipal land-use and economic development decision shaped by the rise of AI infrastructure investment. It is well suited for undergraduate and graduate courses in business strategy, public policy, and public administration, particularly in modules focused on stakeholder management and sustainable development. It can be taught within 70 minutes, using a blended approach of asynchronous preparation and synchronous, discussion-based learning. Before class, students should review the assigned readings and prepare brief team responses (250–300 words) to the assignment questions, ensuring initial engagement with key issues. During the class, the instructor can invite selected teams to present their analyses, using their suggestions to structure the discussion. This approach encourages active participation, facilitates a comparison of alternative viewpoints, and supports deeper critical analysis through guided debate. After working through the case and the assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:

Apply stakeholder analysis to a real-world public-administration decision.
Evaluate strategic location decisions for large-scale infrastructure.
Evaluate long-term strategic positioning in emerging technology markets.
Understand the concept of social licence.
Formulate and defend a strategic recommendation under competing institutional pressures.