REGINA, Sask. — Officials with Bell Canada are enthused about their plans to expand the company’s AI data centre project and its presence in Saskatchewan.
John Watson, group president of Bell Business and AI, spoke to SaskToday about Monday’s announcement in Toronto to expand the data centre from the existing 300 megawatts up to 1.2 gigawatts.
He pointed to the progress made on the heels of other major announcements about the project as it moved ahead throughout this year.
“I think the announcement that we had back in March was terrific. It was a 300-megawatt announcement. We had a lot of work to do. We broke dirt in April. And it was, at the time, certainly the largest in the province and one of the biggest nationally.
“Where this brings us today, I think we built a lot of good trust and credibility together with both the Premier, his team, as well as the local officials, the Rural Municipality of Sherwood. And in doing so, it gave us a platform to expand, and that doesn't come lightly.”
Watson noted the project was one of “building jobs in the community, building supply chain, ensuring that as much of the materials would come from Saskatchewan as possible.” This includes building manufacturing and fabrication capabilities for the steel they are using, he said.
“The steel is manufactured in Saskatchewan and now the processing and fabrication is done there as well. The number of folks on site, I think we'll get up to probably close to 1,000 men and women, skilled trades workers to help us build this and get things done. And there's just a really good wave of momentum, jobs, opportunity, business growth within the city and the province that makes this unique.”
One of the major items to come out of Monday’s announcement was the plan for Bell to make Regina a headquarters for its AI business.
“One of the things that was quite important to us and the Premier (Scott Moe) and Minister (Jeremy Harrison) was to have a lasting impact in the community. And one of the ways to do it was to create a head office for Bell AI Fabric. We will be establishing that in the city, building roles and resources around that and having much of the work done in the city for AI Fabric as it expands.
“We're only 16 months into this, let's call it a new business. We founded it in May of 2025 and we're hoping that that will be a lasting growth opportunity that will benefit the community and the city. So that's one of the things we're looking to do to create jobs, presence and lasting benefits.”
In terms of the number of jobs and where those jobs would come from, Watson had this to say:
“So today I think we're around 450 team members on site and this will grow and likely peak around 1,000 as we embark upon the scale and structure of what we're trying to do. That will extend for many years. So the expansion will be significant and will allow us to sustain that level of employment for a significant period of time.
“Then there's the fabrication and the pre-work that's done on materials and components that occurs as much as possible in the province. When we're up and running at scale, there'll be about 500 folks running the operations and then the 100 in terms of the head office for a total of 600. And we've done some economic studies that show the related jobs and secondary effect in the flywheel is around 3,000 jobs that would accrue due to that. So you're into very significant numbers over a long period of time given the prospects for growth and what we can do here.”
A significant part of Monday’s announcement was word that the current project is expanding from the planned 300 megawatts up to 1.2 gigawatts. Watson explained how that is going to happen, indicating it is along the lines of the “bring your own power” model outlined in the framework previously announced by the province.
“There was a very good framework created by the minister and the premier that was released, I think, a week or two ago. And amongst all the tenets on there was one that covered off bring your own power. So everything on a go-forward basis will require power generation to support the growth and the facilities that are created. So we will embark upon that as well with the growth intended. And it will be natural gas, similar to what's being used to generate a significant portion of the grid power in the province. And that will not be connected to the grid. That will be solely powered and operated by ourselves and a partner.”
As for the water being used for the data centre operations, Watson again reiterated it will not be coming from the outside.
“So from day one, we made a decision. This is prior to any requirements or frameworks that were created that we would not use groundwater. And just to give you a bit of an understanding on the operations of a facility then, it's very much like the radiator on your gasoline or diesel vehicle. So you've got a radiator out front.
“You're running a technical solution in the radiator. And it cools the engine. And it's a closed loop. You're not constantly rolling through water. This is analogous to that. And as we expand and grow through this, it will all be technical water.
“We will not use groundwater. And it will be a closed system. Everyone should be aware that that's actually more expensive to build. And it's a little bit less efficient in terms of how you go about the cooling, albeit in the wintertime, it will be highly efficient. What some sites do, and this is in the southern U.S. predominantly, is they use evaporative cooling of water. And they use a tremendous amount of water.
“That is not the case here. We will not do that. It will be a closed-loop technical cooling water system that will respect the groundwater needs of the community and will manage it very well.”
In terms of the cost of the overall project, Watson acknowledged that it will go up significantly. Initially, he said, the cost was “about $2 billion to build the structure and related facilities and about $10 billion for the compute, the GPUs, the chips that would be inside the building.”
“The current plan at 1.2 gigawatts is four times that,” said Watson, pointing to that taking the number up to close to $53 billion.
“So it's a very significant project. It's the largest single private enterprise project in the province ever. I think the Premier said it may be the single largest private project in the country. And it's going to have a very positive impact over a long period of time. And there's significant tax revenues that will accrue from that as well. So it's a really good economic engine for growth.”
Watson also spoke of the comments from Premier Moe at the announcement Monday, in which Watson pointed to him “making the stand that critical digital infrastructure for Canadians, supporting businesses, supporting consumers in his constituency, it needs to be in Canada.”
“And if you think about that, being dependent on other jurisdictions, other countries, other controls in terms of our digital infrastructure, it's really a good idea to have some domain over the infrastructure we use every day to conduct our business. And this is a great example of looking to do that.”
There has been some concern raised locally about whether there has been enough transparency and consultation with respect to the project. Watson pointed to Bell Canada’s efforts.
“It's very important to be transparent, open and present in the community. I think if you were to reach out and ask the folks in the surrounding areas, they're very pleased with what we've done, the level of engagement, the openness, the ease of contact. Our general contractors have done the same. They went door to door. In fact, we've had a number of meetings with the team in Sherwood and answered all the questions. We've got a team on deck in the province in terms of being able to manage that and facilitate it.
“We're out hiring. We're hiring a full-time team member to come on board to help the firm we've engaged with to do that. And the door is wide open. We want to engage, we want to answer questions.”
Watson also pointed to the “misinformation, hope it's not disinformation, but there's certainly misinformation that's available in many digital realms.”
“We need to set the record straight. We need to be open. We need to be present. We need to answer the questions. So we've really made good strides doing that. We're open to suggestions if folks have them, but we think we're in really good shape relative to where we were in March when we started and just began. Folks can reach out and we're happy to engage and answer the questions and help them understand what we're trying to do here.”
Watson also addressed another question about why Saskatchewan was selected as the location for the project.
“It might be surprising, but it's a very, very good place to do business,” Watson said. “It's a good place to have an opportunity to build a common agenda, to work toward it, to build a framework that sets everyone up for success and creates the accountability. And working with the trades, working with all levels of government, working with the community, there's a real interest in Saskatchewan to build, create, to grow and to make something happen. And you can't buy that. It's special and it's why we're continuing to support the growth and expansion there. It's just a great place to be part of the community and do business together.”
