Telecoms firm Bell Canada has filed to develop a new data center campus in Saskatchewan.

First reported by CBC, Bell has filed with the Rural Municipality of Sherwood to rezone land from agricultural (AG) to light industrial to support a “data and research center” on land outside Regina.

The site totals around 160 acres. Built out over multiple phases, the campus would see multiple 50MW buildings developed, totaling around 46,575 sqm (or 501,345 sq ft). The first building, spanning 8,500 sqm (91,025 sqm), could see development start in 2026.

The development will consist of a substation on site by Saskatchewan Power Authority, which will bring the required power to the data centers.

The campus will also include a future commercial/industrial development on approximately 14.4 hec (or 35.35 acres) along Park Street Road, which may include a research partnership with the University of Regina to develop greenhouses that reclaim heat generated by the data centers.

Bell had filed through 102226744 Saskatchewan Ltd. References are made, however, to “Bell Canada’s proposed AI data center campus in the RM of Sherwood” in the documents.

“This project envisions to enable the development of a Al data center campus that will serve as critical digital infrastructure for research, provincial Al enablement, and federal/protected industries,” the filing states. “The facilities will support universities, healthcare, public-sector services, and Canadian businesses with secure, made-in-Canada computing capacity, helping to keep sensitive data and innovation within the country.”

Bell last year announced plans to build AI data centers across the country, starting with six data centers in British Columbia, supported by 500MW of hydroelectric power.

At the time, the company said it would bring a 7MW facility online in Kamloops alongside chip firm Groq, followed by two other 26MW facilities in the area. A 7MW facility was also planned in Merritt, British Columbia.

Bell is also partnering with Hive’s AI cloud unit Buzz for a 5MW Nvidia GPU cluster in Manitoba. The telco is also planning an AI facility in partnership with Ontario-based Queen’s University.

Bell previously sold a portfolio of data centers across Canada to Equinix in 2020, retaining a handful of key networking facilities. Bell also has an Edge data center business in the US through its recent acquisition of Ziply Fiber.

Most of Canada’s data centers are clustered around Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver – alongside growing interest across Alberta.

Saskatchewan has a small data center market, with the likes of local telco SaskTel and a few local players having a handful of facilities in Saskatoon and Regina.

Two large developments in Saskatchewan have been recently proposed by developers in Moose Jaw and Saskatoon.