Bell’s Massive AI Data Centre Expansion Clears Key Vote Near Regina

The Rural Municipality of Sherwood has approved zoning bylaws tied to Bell’s planned AI data centre expansion south of Regina, according to CTV News. Council voted Thursday after a public hearing on the changes, clearing a municipal land-use step for the larger campus proposal. That is not the same as a green light to start building or to operate the expanded site.

Local reporting on the meeting says council unanimously passed two bylaws that rezone about 895 acres of agricultural land to light industrial use and amend the municipality’s Official Community Plan. The extra land is the same farmland package Bell outlined earlier this fall as it pursues a much larger Sherwood buildout. Coun. Kevin Chekay recused himself because he owns a portion of the land Bell intends to buy.

Bell has previously said the expansion could add as many as nine more data centre buildings and take the planned campus to roughly 1.2 gigawatts, with phased construction possible as early as 2027 if demand and approvals line up. The first-phase campus already under construction is still aimed at opening its first data hall in the first half of 2027.

Even with the zoning vote done, Bell has said expansion work would not start until other required approvals are in place and a commercial tenant agreement is signed. A provincial environmental impact assessment and further technical reviews are still expected before that larger project can move ahead. Bell has also said it is not seeking provincial or municipal subsidies for the expansion and that added power would come from dedicated generation rather than the provincial grid.

Residents and First Nations representatives raised consultation and environmental concerns at the hearing, and protesters gathered outside the RM office during the vote. That pushback fits a longer dispute over the campus, including Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation’s recent demand that Bell share more technical documents about the project.