Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas is warning that Alberta's independence movement could cost the province $62 billion annually and eliminate 175,000 jobs, citing a Calgary Chamber of Commerce report based on responses from just 137 businesses. He argues political uncertainty will drive away investment, pointing to Montreal's loss of Bank of Montreal's headquarters decades ago.

But the investment announcements coming into Alberta tell a very different story.

A new Calgary Chamber report estimates Alberta separation could cost up to $62B a year, thousands of dollars per person, and put 175,000 jobs at risk. There's a reason the Bank of Montreal is no longer headquartered in Montreal. Political uncertainty has real economic… pic.twitter.com/QLCJhh2Rb4

— Jeromy (Pathfinder) Farkas (@JeromyYYC) July 16, 2026

In the span of just two weeks, Alberta has seen two major AI data centre announcements worth billions of dollars.

First came Meta's $13-billion AI data centre in Sturgeon County, the company's first Canadian data centre and one of the largest private investments in Alberta's history. The project is expected to create thousands of construction jobs, hundreds of permanent positions and generate significant tax revenue. Meta cited Alberta's abundant natural gas, reliable electricity and business-friendly environment as key reasons for choosing the province.

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Then came a second proposal: Tourmaline Oil's plan for another AI data centre in Yellowhead County, further cementing Alberta as Canada's emerging AI infrastructure hub. Rather than waiting for constitutional certainty, companies are committing billions of dollars to long-term projects in Alberta today.

⁨🎥⁩ ⁨Mayor Farkas didn’t do his homework. He recycled Ottawa’s fear campaign, leaned on a meaningless survey of 137 businesses, and ignored the billions still pouring into Alberta. Calgary deserves a mayor who defends this province, not one who parrots its opponents.… pic.twitter.com/KjVvIDExXQ

— Keith Wilson (@ikwilson) July 16, 2026

Keith Wilson, founder of Let Alberta Decide, says those investments expose the weakness in Farkas's argument.

"If the discussion about Alberta's future was scaring investors away, we wouldn't be announcing two massive AI data centres worth billions of dollars within two weeks of each other. Investors vote with their money, and right now they're choosing Alberta."

Wilson also criticized the Chamber report itself, noting that it is based on a survey of only 137 businesses and models a hypothetical future rather than measuring actual investment behaviour.

"The report predicts what might happen," Wilson said. "The investment announcements show what is happening."

There is little doubt businesses generally prefer political stability, and economists can legitimately debate the long-term effects of any constitutional change.

But Farkas presents the Chamber's projections as though they describe Alberta's current economy. They don't.

The evidence on the ground points in the opposite direction. Alberta continues to attract record levels of private investment, leads Canada in economic growth, produced nearly 80% of the country's job growth over the past year, and is now becoming a destination for some of the world's largest AI infrastructure projects.

If Alberta's constitutional debate is already driving capital away, investors appear not to have received the memo.