Bell’s Saskatchewan AI Data Centre Takes Shape Ahead of 2027 Opening

Bell’s 300-megawatt AI Fabric data centre campus in Saskatchewan is moving deeper into construction, even as the company promotes a much larger expansion that remains conditional.

The telecom said on Thursday more than 500 people are now working at the Rural Municipality of Sherwood site, with all four first-phase buildings taking shape. The first data hall is still expected to come online in the first half of 2027. Over 30 local contractors, consultants, suppliers and Indigenous partners are involved, according to Bell, with most of the workforce coming from Saskatchewan.

The initial campus will draw power from SaskPower through a dedicated industrial connection. Bell says the project will not put upward pressure on residential electricity rates.

The bigger numbers being promoted are tied to a separate proposal. Bell and the Saskatchewan government signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding in September outlining a path toward a 1.2-gigawatt AI infrastructure hub.

That expansion would be four times the size of the project now under construction. Bell says the additional 900 MW would rely on dedicated natural gas generation funded by the company. The proposed expansion would also depend on customer commitments, commercial agreements, permits and approvals.

Bell and the province have said a full buildout could exceed $50 billion in capital investment and support thousands of jobs, but those figures remain projections tied to the larger project rather than spending and employment already in place.

For now, the confirmed project is the original 300 MW campus, with construction continuing toward its first data hall opening in 2027.