The federal government and Telus are teaming up to build a major AI data centre in British Columbia, part of a push to make sure Canada has its own computing muscle rather than leaning on foreign infrastructure.
The idea is straightforward: keep Canadian data and intellectual property on Canadian soil. As demand for AI processing power keeps climbing, the government wants local researchers and tech companies to have somewhere to run their workloads without routing everything through servers in the US or elsewhere.
The B.C. project follows a similar Telus data centre in Rimouski, Quebec, that the company says filled up almost immediately after opening.
“Canada cannot compete in the AI economy without the infrastructure to back it up,” said Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, adding that the goal is to give Canadian businesses the tools to actually adopt and benefit from new technology.
“We are incredibly proud to be working with the Government of Canada to help build Canada’s sovereign AI infrastructure. The unprecedented demand that completely sold out our first AI factory in Rimouski proves that Canadian innovators want cutting-edge AI infrastructure built right here on Canadian soil. We are sending a clear message to the world: Canada will lead the AI revolution with uncompromising technological power and unparalleled climate leadership,” said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of Telus, in a statement on Monday.
The expansion begins with the Kamloops AI Factory opening later this year, followed by Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant M3 facility in late 2026 and a flagship 150 West Georgia site in 2029 (yes, it’s located in downtown Vancouver next to BC Place) built with localdeveloper Westbank.
As North America’s first official NVIDIA Cloud Partner, Telus will outfit these hubs with elite NVIDIA hardware, including Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin platforms.
The Vancouver sites aim to be the world’s most sustainable, says Telus. Operating on 98% renewable energy, the facilities will use a closed-loop liquid cooling system to cut energy use by 80% and water consumption by 90%. Waste heat from the servers will be recycled into city district energy systems to heat the equivalent of 150,000 homes.
It’s worth noting that the two sides have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the project, but no public money has been committed yet. B.C. was chosen partly for practical reasons, as the the cooler climate and access to clean energy make it cheaper and greener to keep large server farms running.
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Will be interesting to see how much electricity rates go up for BC residents.
Where will they be purchasing hdds from? Lol