Bell Canada, province tout speed of AI data centre's construction near Regina

Cabinet minister Jeremy Harrison dismisses concerns over lack of public consultation

Bell Canada and the Saskatchewan government are touting how quickly the telecom giant's artificial intelligence data centre outside of Regina is being built.

Cranes loomed over a skeleton of steel beams Tuesday as workers inside used a lift to inspect the panelling of a wall.

Bell Canada's group president, John Watson, said framing has been completed for three of the four data halls currently under construction.

Six data halls are planned at the site in the rural municipality of Sherwood, and the telecom giant believes the first phase of the facility will be up and running in the first half of 2027.

"Our commitment to our customers is to have the first two buildings set up and ready to go," Watson said.

More than 500 workers are at the 65-hectare site at any one time, said Jeremy Harrison, the minister responsible for Saskatchewan's Crown Investments Corporation.

Harrison said the $1.7-billion, 300-megawatt centre is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build one of Canada's largest data facilities.

CoreWeave and Cerebras have already signed on as anchor tenants. Bell Canada is already planning to quadruple the size of the facility, taking it to 1.2 gigawatts of power and $52 billion of investment — the largest private investment in Saskatchewan's history.

"It needs to be probably one [and a half], twice as large as this one is," Watson said.

He said there are no timelines on when the expansion would happen.

Bell AI data centre expansion raises questions over power, water and local impact

Although the initial 300 megawatts will be supplied by SaskPower, Bell Canada will be responsible for the remaining 900. Bell will likely partner to build a gas-powered generation system, but there is no indication on where that would happen.

The development is not without its critics.

Protesters have disrupted RM of Sherwood council meetings, demanding answers amid what they see as a lack of consultation on the project.

Harrison dismissed that concern Tuesday.

"Elected representatives are here speaking on behalf of their constituents, which I think reflects the broad support that exists out there," he said.

The Saskatchewan NDP has called for a moratorium on data centres in the province.

Sally Housser, energy critic for the Official Opposition, has said the government needs to earn the public's trust on large-scale infrastructure projects such as the data centre.

"This government has not done enough so that the people of Saskatchewan, they can just say, 'Just trust me, it's going to work out,'" she said Thursday.

"They need to show their work. They need to do more than that."

Bell plans expansion of Sask. AI data centre, making it largest private investment in province's history

Bell and the provincial government have insisted the data centre, and the planned expansion, could produce big economic benefits.

Harrison said the site expansion could support 500 permanent jobs as well as up to 3,000 off-site and community jobs.

The telecom giant has confirmed it will also establish its Bell AI Fabric headquarters in Regina. That alone would add 100 management jobs to the city, Harrsion said.

Sask. touts rapid Bell AI data centre construction, dismissing critics

Alexander Quon is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC Saskatchewan. He has been a reporter with CBC Saskatchewan since 2021 and is happy to be working in his hometown of Regina after half a decade in Atlantic Canada. He has previously worked with the CBC News investigative unit in Nova Scotia and Global News in Halifax. Alexander specializes in freedom of information requests and data reporting. He can be reached at: alexander.quon@cbc.ca.

With files from The Canadian Press