Skip to main content
Personal Small Business Medium & Large Business
Contact us Français
Enterprise

AI Fabric

Our commitment to the community and environment.

Hero Image

Bell AI Fabric and Saskatchewan: building for tomorrow

A landmark investment in Saskatchewan's digital future

Bell is investing in Saskatchewan to create a 1.2 GW Canadian AI infrastructure hub right here in Regina. We know that a project of this scale raises questions and considerations for neighbours and the wider community. Bell’s goal is to bring new digital infrastructure to Saskatchewan while fitting responsibly within the local environment and community. This page is intended to share information about how the facility is being designed and planned to address those questions directly.

Investing in Saskatchewan's economic future

The new data centre campus puts Saskatchewan at the heart of Canada's technology-driven growth. This project is projected to generate $12 billion in long-term economic value for the province, including local employment and substantial municipal and provincial tax revenues.

Built in alignment with Saskatchewan’s Data Centre Framework, Bell AI Fabric will strengthen productivity and competitiveness in Saskatchewan and Canada across key sectors including agriculture, energy, financial services, and critical infrastructure.

Illustration of the data centre layout and design

Creating local opportunities

This project will generate meaningful opportunities in Saskatchewan, including 800 to 1,200 construction, engineering and technical jobs, and 500 permanent operations and management roles once complete. Furthermore, Bell intends to locate the Bell AI Fabric head office directly in the Regina community, bringing an additional 100 head office jobs.

We are deeply committed to utilizing local talent and resources: 80% of the project's labour force is from Saskatchewan, and the vast majority of products used, including steel and building materials produced right here in Saskatchewan. The project currently involves 32 Saskatchewan and prairie-region firms on the project team.

To explore and apply for active opportunities on this landmark project, visit jobs.bce.ca.

Our commitment to the environment and community:

The project is designed to protect local resources, limit community impacts, and manage energy use responsibly.

Mission icon prompting adversarial stress-testing

Water conservation

The facility will not use water for cooling during normal operation. The facility uses a sealed closed-loop cooling system paired with air-cooled heat rejection. This means:

  • No evaporative cooling towers
  • No routine cooling-water demand
  • No draw on municipal water sources or groundwater

Cooling fluid trucked in and added once during commissioning to fill the sealed system. After that, the same fluid remains within the system and is not discharged or regularly replaced. Any municipal water connection is limited to fire protection and normal building use such as washrooms, not cooling.

Expert evaluation icon for the judging panel

Minimizing local impact

The site is designed to limit community impacts through responsible development, including:

  • Low-noise equipment selection and noise mitigation
  • Landscaped setbacks and berms for noise reduction
  • Visual screening along neighbouring property lines
  • Downward-facing, dark-sky-compliant lighting
  • Careful drainage planning to protect surrounding lands
Prize icon representing competition rewards

Responsible energy use

Power for the facility is planned through a phased approach designed to support world-class computing without competing for local power resources. For the initial 300 MW phase, electricity is delivered through SaskPower via a dedicated industrial feed separate from residential distribution, leveraging the site’s proximity to existing high-capacity infrastructure for reliable delivery.

To power the expansion without drawing load from the provincial grid, Bell will wholly fund dedicated natural gas generation developed and managed by an experienced operating partner. This self-contained approach protects provincial grid stability and ensures no upward pressure on electricity rates for Saskatchewan families or businesses. Siting, safety reviews, and pipeline routing are currently being coordinated in close consultation with SaskPower, SaskEnergy, and TransGas, subject to comprehensive environmental assessments.

Operating with advanced closed-loop technology that requires zero municipal water for cooling, active engineering studies are also underway to capture and reuse surplus heat for neighbouring post-secondary institutions and regional development projects to improve overall efficiency over time.

Prize icon representing competition rewards

Roads, traffic and infrastructure

Bell will fund project-specific infrastructure upgrades, including to neighbouring roads and site access associated with the development.

A traffic management plan will be used during construction to manage vehicle movements, haul routes and safety. These updates are part of the project and are not intended to shift costs onto local residents or the municipality.

Bell AI Fabric expands nation-building project in Saskatchewan to create a 1.2 GW Canadian AI infrastructure hub

Explore the official press release, which details the project's historic investment, economic impact, and overall vision for an AI Hub.

Learn more

Your questions, answered

As we build the foundation for Canada’s AI-driven future, our commitment to the community, economy and land of Saskatchewan remains our top priority. 

Water usage

The cooling system does not use water for cooling during normal operation. It uses a sealed closed-loop system that transfers heat to air-cooled equipment rather than evaporative cooling systems.

Think of it as a sealed, recirculating system. We fill it once with technical water delivered in drums and the same water remains in the system. It is not discharged, not evaporated, and not routinely replaced during normal operation.

No, this will not use any municipal water or groundwater. The closed-loop system is entirely separate from municipal water supplies and groundwater sources.

No. The facility does not use evaporative cooling, cooling towers, misting or similar systems. There is no routine loss of water through evaporation.

Cooling methods for data centres vary based on climate, available resources, and technology. While some data centres in warmer regions might use evaporative cooling, which consumes water continuously, this facility is designed differently, using a sealed closed-loop system and air-cooled heat rejection suited to Saskatchewan’s climate.

Noise

The potential sources of noise include cooling equipment and backup power generators.

No. The facility is being designed for low noise operation, with sound levels managed through equipment selection, siting, and mitigation measures appropriate to a rural environment.

Measures include lower‑noise equipment where possible, acoustic enclosures for mechanical systems, landscaped berms and setbacks, and professional acoustic modelling to guide final design and mitigation.

Power

The initial data centre is designed to operate with a gross power demand up to 300 MW to support advanced AI computing infrastructure. The expansion of an additional 900MW announced on September 14th, 2026 will be powered by a natural gas plant operated and paid wholly for by Bell, with consultation from SaskPower.

SaskPower will supply the initial 300 MW via a dedicated industrial feed separate from residential distribution, while the expansion will be powered off-grid by a wholly funded natural gas plant built and managed by an experienced third-party operating partner in close consultation with SaskPower, SaskEnergy, and TransGas, ensuring the project directly supports local development without drawing load from the provincial grid or impacting rates for Saskatchewan families.

Saskatchewan’s grid, managed by SaskPower, includes a mix of natural gas, hydroelectric power and other sources.

The site is located near existing power infrastructure, including nearby substations and utility corridors, supporting efficient and reliable power delivery without the need for the construction of a new substation.

Yes. We are targeting a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.3, with efficiency expected to improve over time as operational practices evolve and opportunities such as waste heat reuse are explored. A PUE measures how much energy is used by the IT equipment compared to the total energy used by the facility.

No, rates are not going up as a result of the data centre being added to the grid. SaskPower’s previously announced rate increase supports record capital investments SaskPower is making throughout the province to ensure long-term reliability and affordability for customers.

Roads and Traffic

Bell will fund required project specific road and access upgrades associated with the development. These improvements are part of the project and are not intended to shift costs to local residents or the municipality.

A traffic management plan will guide construction activity. This includes designated haul routes, scheduling controls, and safety measures to reduce disruption during construction.

Yes. Road use and maintenance requirements will form part of construction planning to ensure roads are kept in safe and serviceable condition.

What can AI do for Canada

Direct benefits (experienced firsthand in daily life)

AI analyzes individual health data from wearables and medical records to provide early warnings for conditions (e.g., detecting irregular heartbeats) and highly tailored treatment plans.

AI assistants automate mundane tasks like drafting emails, summarizing documents, and scheduling, freeing up hours of personal and professional time.

AI-driven tutoring platforms adapt in real-time to a student’s unique learning pace and style, identifying knowledge gaps and providing targeted exercises.

AI-integrated smart home systems learn your habits to optimize heating, cooling, and lighting, directly reducing monthly energy bills.

Real-time language translation, advanced speech-to-text, and visual recognition tools allow individuals with disabilities or language barriers to navigate the world and communicate seamlessly.

AI chatbots and virtual agents provide 24/7, immediate resolution for common consumer issues, eliminating long hold times on customer service calls.

Indirect benefits (experienced through systemic and industry improvements)

AI drastically reduces the time required for drug discovery and protein folding analysis, leading to faster development of life-saving medications and vaccines available to the public.

AI optimizes city traffic light grids to reduce congestion. Furthermore, as AI improves autonomous vehicle technology, it will systematically reduce traffic accidents caused by human error.

AI optimizes global supply chains, predicts inventory needs, and automates manufacturing. This reduces corporate waste and overhead, which translates to lower prices for everyday goods at the store.

"Precision agriculture" uses AI to analyze drone imagery and soil sensors, allowing farmers to optimize water and fertilizer use. This increases crop yields and helps stabilize grocery prices.

AI predicts energy demand and optimizes the distribution of renewable energy (like solar and wind) across power grids, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and lowering the frequency of blackouts.

Banks and credit card companies use AI to analyze purchasing patterns in milliseconds, blocking fraudulent transactions before consumers even realize their data was compromised.

Research & development

AI simulates how millions of molecules interact with biological targets, reducing the time to find viable drug candidates from years to months. For example, AI models that predict 3D protein structures allow researchers to design highly targeted treatments for diseases much faster and at a fraction of the traditional cost.

AI rapidly tests chemical combinations virtually to discover new materials without needing physical trial-and-error in a lab. For example, discovering new, highly efficient compounds for solar panels, or developing longer-lasting, faster-charging solid-state batteries for electric vehicles.

Engineers input specific constraints (e.g., maximum weight, required strength, available materials), and AI generates optimal, often unconventional, physical designs. For example, designing lighter, stronger aerospace components that reduce airplane fuel consumption, which can lead to lower environmental impact and cheaper flight tickets.

AI can instantly read, translate, and synthesize decades of global scientific papers, identifying hidden patterns that human researchers might miss. For example, cross-referencing thousands of historical medical studies to find new, effective off-label uses for existing, FDA-approved medications.

AI processes massive datasets to simulate highly complex environments that traditional computing struggles to render accurately. For example, simulating plasma behavior to advance clean nuclear fusion energy or creating hyper-accurate climate models to help cities build better flood defenses.