REGINA — The parent company of Bell Canada is planning to build a new data centre outside Regina that is billed to be a major contribution to Canada’s artificial intelligence sovereignty.

BCE Inc. is to build the 300-megawatt data centre in the rural municipality of Sherwood, Sask., with construction slated to begin this spring.

The facility is projected to generate economic value of up to $12 billion for the province, including short- and long-term job creation. Its construction is expected to support at least 800 trades and engineering jobs, with a minimum of 80 full-time roles created once it’s fully operational.

The facility is expected to come online in stages, with the first expected to go live during the first half of 2027.

The company has also partnered with the Crown corporation SaskTel. The two are to act as go-to-market partners, offering AI-powered products to SaskTel customers.

Premier Scott Moe said more than 1,600 jobs are to be associated to the project.

“This facility will be the largest of the kind operating in our nation,” he said Monday at a Regina news conference with BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic.

He said Saskatchewan has enough in its power grid to build and operate the data centre, adding that more would be available as the province moves toward nuclear technology.

“We need to work with the federal government and industry on ensuring that power that is being built for tomorrow and years ahead is low-carbon power,” Moe said.

“I would suggest there is no more reliable source of low-carbon power than nuclear power, which makes perfect sense in a province where all the Canadian uranium comes from as well.”

He said the facility would have far-reaching benefits in Canada, as more industries rely on AI technology to improve efficiency.

“You need to have access to data storage and these centres,” Moe said. “I would suggest we also have the responsibility to ensure that we are building this data sovereignty in Canada as well.”

Bibic said data centres and compute hardware that power AI are becoming critical infrastructure for the economy.

“It’s going to be a project that’s going to make a real difference in delivering the infrastructure that Saskatchewan needs and that Canada needs to win in the global AI economy,” he said.

“Canadian governments, researchers and enterprises will be able to access that top tier globally leading compute models, software and technology while keeping their data in Canada managed by Canadians under Canadian laws.”

Bibic said BCE is to spend $10 billion to buy the compute hardware needed for the centre from Cereberus and Coreweave, both U.S. companies.