The Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce applauds today’s announcement that Bell Canada is proceeding with its $1.7 billion artificial intelligence (AI) data centre campus near Regina saying it serves as a model for data centres in regions like Saskatoon.

“This exciting project sets the stage for continued private investment in this space, which will attract new industry and create thousands of jobs into the future,” says Jason Aebig, CEO, Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce. “It signals that we are ready to welcome and enable this investment, with our abundant, allocatable and reliable power generation; strong baseload from coal, hydro, thermal and future nuclear; and stable regulatory environment.”

While Bell’s project itself is expected to create hundreds of jobs, Aebig points out that most data centre development is the means to an end.

“Data centres themselves create employment and training opportunities but their economic impact doesn’t stop there,” says Aebig. “They are fast-becoming essential pieces of infrastructure that makes all other industry development possible, from agriculture to Ai.”

“A data centre is like a new highway to get ore from mine to market. The construction of that highway creates employment. But it’s the hundreds of good-paying jobs and millions in GDP from the mine that ultimately creates lasting impact and growth.”

Since 2024, the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce has been working to help establish Saskatoon as a major Artificial Intelligence (AI) data center hub in Saskatchewan. In October 2025, the Chamber brought forward a proposal for adoption at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce AGM, which garnered 97% of support of chambers across the country.

In partnership with Artificial Intelligence Saskatchewan (AiSK), the two organizations recently hosted two gatherings of industry stakeholders to develop recommendations for local and provincial policy-makers.

“The opportunity is real but time-limited,” observes Aebig. “Capital is mobile, other cities and provinces are actively pitching their advantages, and only prepared jurisdictions will win. In this case, ‘advantage’ is no substitute for decisiveness. We need to act with focus and intention on data centre development otherwise the spinoffs, investment and jobs are at risk.”

“We believe Saskatchewan, and economic hubs like Saskatoon, can become anchors for data centre development across Canada,” asserts Aebig. “Whether they are stand-alone centres, or facilities constructed by companies and co-located on site, we have the climate, centrality, base load power and stability that ticks all the boxes.”