By Brett McKay, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Investigative Journalism Foundation
January 3, 2026
Every year, the Alberta government allows a number of exemptions to its rule that foreign citizens or corporations cannot own more than 20 acres of land in the province.
Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally put forward 13 orders-in-council in 2025 to permit foreign companies and people to buy more than 10,600 acres, or about 43 square kilometres, of land in the province. Here’s a look at some of the year’s biggest deals and an update on their affiliated projects.
In February, Shield Energetics Ltd. was given the go-ahead to acquire up to 12.94 square kilometres of land in Cypress County to establish an ammunition and small arms munitions manufacturing facility.
Shield Energetics is a part of the Montana-based defence firm Shield Group, which has been trying to expand its network into Canada. Shield Group hired New West Public Affairs to lobby the federal government in October 2024 to meet with legislators and discuss plans “to build a large manufacturing plant in Canada.”
Alberta corporate registration documents name Stan Manoogian, Shield Group co-founder and partner, as the sole director of Shield Energetics.
Though the company appears to have cleared the necessary regulatory hurdles to set up shop in southern Alberta, it hasn’t acted to buy the property near Medicine Hat identified in the ministerial order.
“There has been no purchase of land at this point in time,” Cypress County Mayor Dan Hamilton told the Investigative Journalism Foundation.
Hamilton said local officials from the region first met with Shield Group representatives in 2024. While the county was open to the business proposal, communication with the company tapered off, and Hamilton said there hasn’t been any movement on the project.
“I think six months ago it was kind of dead in the water, and I haven’t heard anything since,” he said.
Shield Group did not respond to the IJF’s emails or phone calls. An automatic reply from Manoogian’s email account said he is currently taking a leave of absence from Shield Group.
Service Alberta’s communications director Osagie Ogunbor was also unable to provide any status update on the project.
“By requiring the province to provide an exemption for land ownership transfers above 20 acres for foreign entities, Alberta’s government is able to ensure land is not transferred to bad actors and it is beneficial for the economy and public,” Ogunbor said.
Beacon Data Centers’ purchase of approximately 8.8 square kilometres for the construction of five data centres and associated electrical infrastructure was approved on Oct. 29, and the company is anticipating rapid development in the months ahead.
Speaking at the Upper Bound AI Conference in Edmonton in May, Beacon co-founder Joseph Shovlin said the company aims to bring all of its data centres in Alberta online by 2027 or 2028. Beacon’s projects will be located in Sturgeon County, Leduc County, Foothills County, Rocky View County and Parkland County.
Beacon is backed by the American investment firm Nadia Partners. The registered Alberta corporations tied to the data centres name Shovlin and founding partner John Halpin as directors.
Alberta’s government is pushing to attract $100 billion worth of investments into AI data centres by 2030. With this deadline fast approaching, it should come as no surprise that the third largest transfer of land to foreign owners this year went to another AI data centre company.
Vibro Information Services was approved to purchase more than six square kilometres of land in Sturgeon County, about 45 minutes northeast of Edmonton. No additional information about either the company or the data centre project is provided in the ministerial order or on the province’s major projectsdatabase.
Offices for the corporate law firm Stikeman Elliott are listed as Vibro’s registration address and address for service in the provincial corporate registry, and a senior advisor for the firm is the sole director of the company.
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Other exemptions to the foreign ownership of land regulations were made to allow title transfers related to estate purposes, the purchase of land by investment companies, and the sale of a residential “land lease community.”
