SASKATOON — Saskatoon-based tech firm founder Maverick Tarasoff said there are pros and cons to a possible artificial intelligence data centre that the Saskatchewan NDP has suggested could be built in the Rural Municipality of Corman Park.
The NDP, under Leader Carla Beck, will hold an open house on Sept. 9 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Two Twenty to gather the concerns and questions from the public.
Rural Municipality of Corman Park Planning and Development Director Doug Ramage, however, said they have not received an application for consideration at this time, and they have no information on whether, and when, an application may be submitted.
“The RM is aware that a potential applicant is exploring an indoor, office-based operation focused on data analysis. The proposed services would potentially support the agriculture, ag-tech, forestry, and natural resource sectors,” Ramage told SaskToday.
“Should a formal application be submitted, it would be reviewed through the RM’s established planning and development process, including any required public notice, technical review, and, if required, council consideration.”
Tarasoff, the president of CortexForge Consulting Inc., said he has heard of the rumours and listed high-level Canadian-hosted infrastructure for AI, specialized technical employment, and a stronger position for Saskatchewan for the emerging technology as benefits.
However, he cautioned that, depending on the project’s design and scale, concerns include substantial electricity demand, pressure on the grid and ratepayers, emissions, and effects on nearby communities. He added that he has also been following the proposal at Regina as a point of comparison.
“To me, that gap reinforces why the regional discussion cannot end with the construction and operation of the facility itself. The longer-term value will depend on whether Saskatchewan deliberately develops the businesses, research capacity, workforce, and locally owned systems capable of using the computing power created for artificial intelligence,” Tarasoff told SaskToday.
“Much of the public discussion has focused on who will build these centres and where they will be located. The larger question is what Saskatchewan will build above them. A data centre creates computing power. The real value comes from what Saskatchewan builds with it. A data centre can be constructed much faster than a regional technology ecosystem can be developed.”
He added that building the needed workforce, research partnerships, public-sector readiness, and Saskatchewan-owned systems needed to capture lasting value will take years, and the work should coincide with infrastructure planning, not after the facility has already been operating.
“The biggest risk is constructing a data centre without positioning Saskatchewan to benefit from the artificial intelligence capacity it creates. We could be left managing the demands on electricity, infrastructure, and nearby communities. At the same time, larger, more established regions use Saskatchewan-based infrastructure to expand their own economic and technological capacity without returning meaningful long-term value to the province,” said Tarasoff.
“The measure of success should not simply be whether Saskatchewan hosts the infrastructure. It should be whether Saskatchewan builds, owns, and retains meaningful capability around it. Saskatchewan already has a strong base of real-world industries, including agriculture, health care, manufacturing, transportation, and logistics. That gives the province a practical opportunity to become a serious competitor in applied AI, provided the infrastructure and the regional ecosystem are developed together.”
He also mentioned that a recent Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy paper on the Regina-area centre noted that while the project is expected to create more than 800 construction jobs, only 80 permanent on-site positions are anticipated once the highly automated facility is operating.
Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Tech, Innovation and AI Brittney Senger raised many of the same concerns mentioned by Tarasoff, and accused the government of lacking transparency, mentioning the multi-billion-dollar AI data centre under development at the RM of Sherwood outside of Regina.
SaskToday reached out to the government, but they have not responded by posting time.
Senger told SaskToday that a listing of a property, Prairie Data Centre, was already on real estate firm Colliers Canada, with the property located at 1 Plant Technology Road, RM of Corman Park, which is about seven minutes east of the Lakewood Suburban Centre.
The Saskatoon Southeast MLA said that residents, not only from her riding, have obvious concerns about the project.
Senger said any proposal to build a major AI data centre in the province must be subject to transparency and public consultation, arguing that residents deserve clear answers about environmental impacts, infrastructure demands and data security before projects move forward.
She added that the possibility of future data centre developments has potential benefits, including keeping Canadian data within the country. Still, she emphasized that those advantages must be balanced against significant public concerns.
"If ever this plan pushes through, what I mean first of all is that when it comes to the construction of a data centre, there are a lot of risks involved. Data sovereignty is very important. It's important that we keep our data in Canada,” Senger said.
She said that residents have raised questions about water consumption, environmental assessments, electricity demand and the number of long-term jobs such facilities would create. She argued the provincial government has not adequately addressed those concerns.
"People have valid concerns. They're concerned about water consumption, about an environmental assessment, about how much it actually contributes to the workforce and how many jobs it creates. There are concerns about whether we have enough grid capacity to power a data centre. These are important questions to be asking, but people aren't getting answers from the government."
She criticized what she described as a lack of transparency surrounding data centre proposals, saying communities need to understand the approval process before projects proceed. She said that it is unclear what procedures are in place for the approval process for companies seeking to build a data centre in Saskatchewan.
"We're seeing a complete lack of transparency from the government when it comes to the construction of a data centre. There is no approval process, at least nothing that they've been transparent about. People have concerns, and it's important that there be transparency and that there be processes that communities and individuals are aware of."
She also referenced the political controversy surrounding the Sherwood proposal, noting that four rural municipality councillors resigned during the process and were later replaced by provincial appointments, adding to public demands for openness and accountability in the review of future data centre developments.
