Project could support 800 construction jobs, 80 permanent roles, and up to billions in economic activity
A single project in rural Saskatchewan is driving nearly $12bn of private AI infrastructure and putting BCE’s growth targets under a brighter spotlight.
Bell is investing $1.7bn to build what it says will be Canada’s largest purpose-built AI data centre on the outskirts of Regina, according to BNN Bloomberg.
The 300‑megawatt facility will sit in the Rural Municipality of Sherwood, just south of the city and near the Saskatchewan Polytechnic campus, with construction starting this spring, CBC News reports.
According to BNN Bloomberg, the data centre will consist of four data halls brought online by the end of next year and will plug into SaskTel fibre and SaskPower’s network.
CBC News reports the campus will be built beside an existing SaskPower substation.
Mirko Bibic, CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, said at a Regina news conference this is the company’s largest-ever investment in Saskatchewan in its 145‑year history.
He said the project will bring about $12bn in revenue to the province’s economy.
BNN Bloomberg reports that when the $1.7bn Bell spend is combined with the compute hardware tenants will install, direct investment tied to the project could approach $12bn.
The facility will host AI computing infrastructure operated by CoreWeave and Cerebras, which BNN Bloomberg describes as two major global AI leaders and core tenants of the site.
All 300 MW of power capacity has already been allocated to CoreWeave and Cerebras to meet demand from their own customers and off‑takers.
At the same time, Bell has reserved a significant amount of compute capacity in the facility to meet sovereign AI demand in Canada for Bell clients.
CBC News says the Regina centre is part of Bell’s Bell AI Fabric initiative to build sovereign AI data infrastructure, including a data centre “super cluster” in British Columbia.
Bibic told BNN Bloomberg there is “no public money allocated to this,” saying the Saskatchewan government is not directing public funds to the deployment.
Bell will fund the $1.7bn cost of the purpose‑built data centre.
Bibic linked the build directly to BCE’s strategy.
He said BCE started last year by strengthening the balance sheet and optimising the cost of capital, then set out a plan at its October investor day based on four key growth areas.
One of those priorities is leading the enterprise market with AI‑powered solutions, which he described as a growth vector with “significant momentum.”
Bibic said the Regina data centre is one of the key elements supporting that strategy and that BCE is increasing its three‑year financial growth targets with this announcement.
He added that potential headwinds were already factored into the targets set at investor day and that guidance for the underlying business is unchanged.
Construction of the facility is expected to support at least 800 trades and engineering jobs, with a minimum of 80 full‑time roles once it is fully operational.
BNN Bloomberg reports that, based on industry research cited in Bell’s materials, as many as 750 additional community jobs could result from a large data centre.
CBC News says Bell has reserved adjacent parcels of land for future expansion and development.
The company is also partnering with SaskTel; BNN Bloomberg reports the two firms will act as go‑to‑market partners, offering AI‑powered products to SaskTel customers.
Bell has a memorandum of understanding with George Gordon First Nation and a working relationship with Saskatchewan Polytechnic and the University of Regina.
Chief Shawn Longman said he sees an opportunity to benefit from jobs at the facility, while Don Ross, CEO of George Gordon Developments, said the First Nation should “have a chance to compete for all $12bn of that opportunity,” referring to the project’s estimated revenue.
Power, water and waste heat
CBC News notes that Saskatchewan’s record power load reached 3,910 MW in 2021; the data centre’s 300 MW would represent about 7.7 percent of that peak.
Premier Scott Moe said the province has capacity to power the facility and called Saskatchewan one of the few provinces with available power to build data sovereignty at scale.
Bibic told BNN Bloomberg the data centre will connect to the industrial energy grid, not the residential grid.
CBC News reports that Bell will use a water‑smart, energy‑efficient closed‑loop cooling system that does not draw from municipal water sources, instead relying on private cisterns and “technical water” shipped in drums.
According to BNN Bloomberg, Bell is also exploring a district energy grid to redirect waste heat from the facility into alternative energy sources.
