Bell and government officials marked construction progress on the Bell AI Data Centre in the RM of Sherwood, Sask. on Thursday, while also announcing a $1 million investment to support mental health in the province.
Preparations are currently underway for the first building’s interior fit out. According to the province, structural steel is rising and all four buildings in the first phase are taking shape.
There are more than 500 people working on the site, with the majority of the project’s workforce from Saskatchewan. The province says more than 30 contractors, consultants, suppliers and Indigenous partners are contributing to the 300-megawatt Bell AI Fabric Data Centre.
With construction for the site first beginning in late April, Crown Investments Minister Jeremy Harrison said the progress has been remarkable.
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“We have an amazing thing going on here behind us, the largest private sector capital investment in the history of the country at full build out which will mean of the three largest investments in Canadian history, two of them will be in Saskatchewan,” Harrison said on Thursday at the announcement.
Bell must supply own power
The event follows Bell’s significant announcement made last month, stating it would quadruple the original 300-megawatt facility to a 1.2 gigawatt Canadian AI infrastructure hub in Saskatchewan.
However, with a total investment of $50 billion, Bell and the province said it’s still in the planning and approval phase.
The project’s expansion is possible under Saskatchewan’s new “Bring Your Own Power” policy which would require Bell to supply its own power.
“The 300-megawatt initially is going to be provided by SaskPower … which is going to result in hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue for SaskPower,” explained Harrison.
John Watson, the group president of the Bell Cyber and AI Fabric, said the additional 900- megawatts would be supplied through a new powered facility built by Bell and run on the province’s natural gas pipelines.
“Bringing your own energy will require natural gas generated energy … This site is naturally located with natural gas pipelines, which is quite beneficial,” Watson told reporters Thursday morning.
“Bring your own energy necessitates a natural gas powered energy system. We will require a system to be built, likely with a partner … There’s folks who support the province today. We’re engaging all of them to understand what they can do and what they would recommend.”
In addition to the hundreds of job opportunities the data centre opens up for people in Saskatchewan, Harrison said it will also have a significant role to Canada’s future of “AI and data ecosystem.”
“AI security and sovereignty, and data security and sovereignty, into the future is going to be as important for nation states and national governments as today [as] energy security and food security are, there is no question about that,” he said.
“Having this facility in Regina in Saskatchewan, subject to Canadian laws, subject to Canadian regulation, is vitally important for our national interest in the future. I think that was genuinely underlined by the fact you had former prime ministers from the Liberal and Conservative Party and the current Prime Minister of Canada that were there to make the announcement.”
However, the opposition said its disappointed by the lack of consultation with the public as the project continues to move forward.
“Will you have a town hall about this? Will you do any consultation? This is even after the announcement of the increase in size for the data center and once again, he’s just said this is a blanket no,” said NDP MLA Sally Housser, at the Legislative Building.
Bell also announced its headquarters for the AI Fabric Data will be located in Regina, including up to 100 management positions.
“It’s an exciting announcement, seeing that Regina is going to be the headquarters for Bell’s AI fabric, bringing high executive jobs and really reinforcing us as a leader in the technology sector,” said Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski. “We heard today from the U of R, we have a lot of capability when it comes to research both from students and professors.”
The first portion of the centre, dubbed a “data hall,” is expected to become operational in the first half of 2027.
“Our commitment to our customers is to have the first two buildings set up and ready to go, and that is that is an extraordinary timeline,” Watson told reporters Thursday morning.
“It’s facilitated by the amazing trades we’ve got here, the commitment and work ethic that we’ve seen. The pace of development here is absolutely extraordinary.”
Mental health investment
Since Bell’s presence in the province continues to grow, they also announced the investment of $1 million to support mental health in Saskatchewan, specifically in Regina and area.
Bachynski said the support would help people in the community.
“It’s exciting to hear when you have a significant capital investment from a business, when they talk about reinvesting in the community, especially something as important as mental health. I think it’s fantastic to hear, and I look forward to how that rolls out,” he said.
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