Canada's Bell to Quadruple Saskatchewan Data Center Campus Capacity with 900MW Expansion

Bell Canada has unveiled plans to dramatically expand its data center development in Saskatchewan, announcing a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Saskatchewan to add up to 900MW of additional capacity at its Bell AI Fabric campus. The expansion represents the largest capital investment in Saskatchewan's history and underscores the growing race to build sovereign AI infrastructure across Canada.

The additional capacity will be developed in phases, with the site ultimately having a path to 1.2GW of total AI capacity. At full buildout, total capital investment associated with the project — including data center infrastructure, tenant compute, and related power generation — could exceed $50 billion. The proposed facilities will rely on partner-developed natural gas power generation and will use closed-loop cooling technology that requires no municipal water, addressing both energy and environmental concerns associated with large-scale data center operations.

Timelines for the expansion have not been disclosed and will be phased as customer commitments are secured, according to Bell. The announcement builds on earlier plans for the site, a 160-acre parcel outside Regina in the Rural Municipality of Sherwood, which first surfaced in February. At that time, Bell outlined plans for a 300MW campus with CoreWeave and Cerebras as anchor customers. The first stage is expected to come online in the first half of 2027 and reach full build-out by the end of that year.

"Canada's next generation of economic growth will be built on Canadian infrastructure," said Mirko Bibic, president and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada. "By creating a path to 1.2GW of AI capacity in Saskatchewan, Bell AI Fabric will give governments, businesses, researchers and innovators the secure, sovereign foundation they need to deploy AI at scale and compete globally."

Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan, framed the investment as a milestone for both the province and the country. "This historic investment will create thousands of good jobs and new opportunities for Saskatchewan people," he said. "It will also strengthen Canadian data sovereignty by keeping Canadian data here at home, stored by a Canadian company and protected under Canadian rules."

The Saskatchewan campus is part of a broader AI infrastructure build-out by Bell across Canada. Last year, the company announced plans to develop AI data centers nationwide, beginning with six facilities in British Columbia supported by 500MW of hydroelectric power. Those plans included a 7MW facility in Kamloops developed alongside chip firm Groq, followed by two additional 26MW facilities in the area, as well as a 7MW facility in Merritt, British Columbia. Bell also partnered with Hive's AI cloud unit Buzz on a 5MW Nvidia GPU cluster in Manitoba and has an AI facility in development with Ontario-based Queen's University.

The expansion carries significant implications for Canada's positioning in the global AI infrastructure landscape. As demand for compute capacity surges worldwide, the ability to retain data within national borders — governed by domestic laws and powered by domestic energy sources — has become a strategic priority for governments and enterprises alike. Bell's move signals that Canadian telecom operators are seeking to capture a larger share of the AI value chain, moving beyond connectivity into the ownership and operation of large-scale compute infrastructure. The project also highlights the growing reliance on natural gas as a bridging power source for AI data centers, even as operators pursue water-free cooling solutions to mitigate environmental impact.

Bell previously sold a portfolio of data centers across Canada to Equinix in 2020, retaining a handful of key networking facilities. The company also operates an edge data center business in the United States through its recent acquisition of Ziply Fiber.