KPMG Law: Wonder Valley AI Data Centre Appoints KPMG GC

• Conor Chell of KPMG Law serves as acting general counsel for Wonder Valley, a $70-billion AI data centre park in northern Alberta.
• Wonder Valley is Canada's largest private infrastructure investment and the world's largest AI data centre industrial park.
• KPMG Law employs a multidisciplinary approach, integrating legal and advisory services for the project's complex regulatory, environmental, and Indigenous workstreams.
• AI data centres present uncharted regulatory territory in Canada, requiring integrated environmental compliance assessments for power, water, air, noise, and land impacts.
• The Building Canada Act offers an accelerated approval pathway but demands significant front-end work, especially concerning Indigenous engagement.

Lawyers advising on large-scale AI infrastructure projects in Canada must anticipate novel and complex regulatory challenges, particularly regarding environmental compliance and Indigenous engagement, requiring an integrated, multidisciplinary legal strategy to navigate uncharted territory and leverage mechanisms like the Building Canada Act.

Wonder Valley, a proposed $70-billion AI data centre park situated in northern Alberta, represents a monumental undertaking, recognized as the largest private infrastructure investment in Canadian history. Its developers also describe it as the world's largest AI data centre industrial park, positioning it at the forefront of Canada's ambitions for digital innovation and significant infrastructure development.

Guiding the legal complexities of such an unprecedented project is Conor Chell, a partner at KPMG Law LLP in Calgary, Alberta, and the firm's national leader for sustainability, environment, and regulatory law. Chell is currently serving as acting general counsel for Wonder Valley, a role that extends beyond typical external counsel duties. He oversees the entire legal function, encompassing development, construction, and future operations, reporting directly to the Wonder Valley executive team. His responsibilities include managing legal spend and providing strategic advice as the project progresses, a commitment akin to a secondment.

KPMG Law operates as a distinct, independent national law firm, yet it is associated with KPMG LLP. This unique structure enables the delivery of multidisciplinary services, integrating legal expertise with the broader advisory capabilities of the LLP side. For the Wonder Valley AI data centre project, KPMG established a specialized "major projects delivery office." This collaborative initiative between KPMG Law and the firm's advisory arm consolidates various workstreams—including regulatory, environmental, Indigenous, tax, corporate commercial, and real estate—under a single, unified structure.

The sheer scale of Wonder Valley inherently presents significant legal challenges. However, the nature of AI data centres themselves introduces genuinely uncharted regulatory territory, particularly within the Canadian context. This new category of infrastructure does not neatly fit into existing legal and permitting frameworks, necessitating the development of an entirely new legal playbook.

Environmental compliance emerges as a particularly novel area. Unlike traditional projects where components might be assessed in isolation, AI infrastructure combines substantial power requirements with diverse environmental considerations. These include water usage, air emissions, noise pollution, land and wetlands impacts, and the extensive infrastructure for data transmission. Historically, these elements were evaluated separately, but for an integrated power and compute campus like Wonder Valley, they demand a single, coherent regulatory assessment.

Conor Chell posits that AI infrastructure is evolving into its own distinct major project regulatory category, differing significantly from conventional energy development. This shift requires a re-evaluation of regulatory approaches, moving beyond simply permitting a power plant to comprehensively assessing how various environmental requirements and impacts interact across an integrated campus.

In response to the need for streamlined approvals for major projects, the federal government introduced the Building Canada Act, which came into force on June 26, 2025. This legislation provides an accelerated pathway for designated projects deemed to be of national interest. While welcoming this initiative, Chell emphasizes that achieving these shorter approval timelines necessitates a significantly greater amount of intensive "front-end" work.

One of the most critical aspects of this increased front-end effort is Indigenous engagement. For large-scale infrastructure projects in Canada, this requires meticulous planning and comprehensive legal strategies to ensure compliance, foster meaningful relationships, and address potential impacts. Lawyers advising on large-scale AI infrastructure projects in Canada must anticipate novel and complex regulatory challenges, particularly regarding environmental compliance and Indigenous engagement, requiring an integrated, multidisciplinary legal strategy to navigate uncharted territory and leverage mechanisms like the Building Canada Act.

Lawyers advising on large-scale AI infrastructure projects in Canada must anticipate novel and complex regulatory challenges, particularly regarding environmental compliance and Indigenous engagement, requiring an integrated, multidisciplinary legal strategy to navigate uncharted territory and leverage mechanisms like the Building Canada Act.

Source: Original reporting via legal industry publication.