Bell expands Saskatchewan AI data centre project

Bell Canada says it will expand its planned AI data centre near Regina, increasing the project's scale from 300 megawatts to as much as 1.2 gigawatts of power. The company says the change would raise its investment in the Bell AI Fabric to more than $52 billion, making it the largest private investment in Saskatchewan's history. The announcement was made at an investment summit in Toronto attended by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. Bell CEO Mirko Bibic said the company chose Saskatchewan because it is a strong place to invest, while Moe described the project as important infrastructure for protecting Canadian data and sovereignty. The province says the expansion could create up to 500 permanent jobs and about 3,000 additional jobs in areas such as security and maintenance. The project has also drawn criticism from the Opposition NDP, which said there had been no public consultation and raised questions about power use, water needs, and local impacts.