Bell Canada announces massive AI data centre near Regina in $1.7 billion investment

CALGARY — Bell Canada and the Saskatchewan government have announced that a new 300-megawatt (MW) AI data centre will be built on the outskirts of Regina.Located in Sherwood, Saskatchewan, the project will be the largest purpose-built data centre in Canada and is expected to generate up to $12 billion in economic value for the province, as well as 800 temporary construction jobs and 80 full-time jobs at the facility once it begins operations in 2027.According to BNN Bloomberg, Bell is investing $1.7 billion in the project — its largest ever in the province — which will consist of four data halls that will be brought online by the end of next year and will connect to SaskTel fibre and SaskPower’s network.The facility is part of Bell Canada’s plan to build sovereign data infrastructure in Canada under Bell AI Fabric, including a data centre “supercluster” in BC.The centre will also host AI computing infrastructure operated by U.S. companies CoreWeave and Cerebras, which are two major global AI leaders and core tenants of the site.Mirko Bibic, CEO of Bell Canada, said the telecom giant will work with the Saskatchewan government and the local George Gordon First Nation to construct the data centre."We're a 145-year-old company, and this will be our largest-ever investment in this province," Bibic told the media in Regina on Monday, adding there is “no public money allocated to this.”.He also confirmed the project will be built adjacent to an existing SaskPower substation, which will help provide the power needed to operate it and any additional buildings related to the project.CBC News reports that Premier Scott Moe said the province has the capacity to power the facility."This is one of the few provinces where we do have available power to build, at scale, the data sovereignty that we very much require as Canadians," the premier said, adding Saskatchewan also intends to eventually bring nuclear power online.A Bell Canada press release also stated that the project includes a working relationship with the University of Regina and Saskatchewan Polytechnic.Chief Shawn Longman of the George Gordon First Nation said he sees the data centre as a massive opportunity."We've had experience on other projects within the province of Saskatchewan, where we took these initial steps," he said."We got together, and we found our niche and how we could actually benefit from the jobs that will be here."Construction is scheduled to begin on the project this spring, with the first capacity expected to come online in the first half of 2027.

Bell Canada announces massive AI data centre near Regina in $1.7 billion investment

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