Bell Canada has announced plans to significantly expand its data centre project in Saskatchewan, with the intention of quadrupling its initial size. This announcement was made during Canada's first investment summit in Toronto, where Prime Minister Mark Carney and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe highlighted the scale and significance of the project.
According to Carney, the investment is expected to surpass $50 billion, making it the largest capital investment in Saskatchewan's history. He noted that the data centre will feature the largest sovereign AI infrastructure network in Canada, indicating its strategic importance for technological development in the country.
The planned expansion will increase the data centre's capacity to 1.2 gigawatts. Bell CEO Mirko Bibic remarked that the original proposal for a 300-megawatt data centre, announced in March, was already deemed the largest data centre initiative in Canada at that time. Construction is actively underway, with progress being made on several buildings and the necessary power and cooling infrastructure.
In a related development, Meta announced its own 1-gigawatt data centre in Alberta in July, highlighting the increasing competition and interest in Canada's data infrastructure market.
The Saskatchewan government indicated that 300 megawatts of the power required for the project will be sourced from the provincial grid, while the remaining capacity will be supplied through Bell's Bring Your Own Power principle, amounting to an additional 900 megawatts. The project is anticipated to create up to 500 permanent jobs and another 3,000 positions in areas such as security, logistics, and maintenance.
Premier Moe emphasized the importance of this project for Canadian data sovereignty, stating that as personal and commercial information becomes increasingly stored in data centres, Canadians must decide whether to build infrastructure that keeps their data secure within the country or risk leaving it vulnerable to foreign control.
Furthermore, Carney mentioned that the government is collaborating with global tech companies to develop additional gigawatts of data centres, potentially leading to further investments totaling hundreds of billions of dollars. He reaffirmed the need for these projects to adhere to the right values and establish partnerships with municipalities.
A government document prepared for federal Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon revealed that Canada currently possesses about 337 megawatts of AI data centre capacity, but there are plans for more than 20 gigawatts of additional capacity that are either in development or under planning stages.
Despite the promised benefits, there has been considerable pushback against data centre projects across Canada. Some municipalities, such as Oakville, Ontario, have begun debating halts on such projects, citing concerns about local impact. In response to these concerns, Solomon announced new voluntary principles for data centre development, which emphasize the need to create lasting local benefits, avoid transferring electricity costs to Canadians, minimize water usage, and ensure transparency regarding local impacts.
The Saskatchewan government confirmed that Bell’s project has been approved under its newly established data centre framework, which focuses on Canadian ownership, support for data sovereignty, job creation, industry experience, self-supplied power generation, and a centralized provincial intake process.
The Canada Investment Summit, which took place in Toronto, served as a platform for engaging some of the world's largest asset managers and foreign investors, aiming to attract investment across various sectors including energy, critical minerals, and defense.
