A “cluster” of three new AI data centres has been proposed for B.C., with two slated for Vancouver and one intended for Kamloops.
The “sovereign AI infrastructure” project was announced on May 11 as a collaboration between Telus and the federal government.
“TELUS is advancing work with the Government of Canada on a proposed Sovereign AI Factory cluster under the federal Enabling Large-Scale Sovereign AI Data Centres initiative – a program designed to build the sovereign, high-performance AI compute infrastructure Canada needs to compete in the global AI economy,” the telecommunications company said.
According to Telus, the centres are meant to be “the world’s most sustainable sovereign data centres,” and are expected to scale to over 60,000 GPUs and 150 megawatts by 2032.
AI data centres have received a slew of criticism for their environmental impact, particularly the strain they put on potable water supply.
The proposed B.C. centres will leverage an initial 85 megawatts of clean, renewable power from BC Hydro to expand their existing Kamloops data centre and develop two new Vancouver facilities with Westbank and its partners.
The Kamloops AI Factory, as it will be called, is supposed to come online later in 2026. The M3 facility in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood is planned to open at the end of 2026 and scale through 2028. And, the 150 West Georgia facility is meant to come online in 2029.
At full scale, Telus said, the three-site cluster will house AI infrastructure featuring high-performance NVIDIA GPUs to support large-scale AI model training, complex simulations, and production-scale deployment.
Darren Entwistle, president and CEO of Telus, said they are developing the B.C. cluster following “unprecedented demand” that “completely sold out” their first AI factory in Rimouski, Que. He said they are developing in B.C. “as a direct response to that market demand.”
Entwistle said the B.C. cluster will serve a growing ecosystem of Canadian businesses, entrepreneurs, startups, researchers, public institutions and government organizations “that require world-class AI compute without sending their data, intellectual property and competitive advantage outside Canadian borders.”
The CEO said the project would inject $9 billion into the Canadian economy.
He also addressed environmental concerns, saying they will run the facilities with 98 per cent clean energy, and use liquid cooling and heat recovery technology.
“By recycling waste heat back into the grid, these facilities will heat more than 150,000 homes in Metro Vancouver, lowering energy costs for British Columbians and eliminating the overall carbon footprint,” Entwistle said.
Avi Lewis, leader of the federal NDP, criticized the move by Telus and the federal government.
“It’s time to build affordable homes, a national network of public grocery stores, electric buses and an east-west clean energy grid, not massive corporate AI data centres unleashed without any democratic debate,” Lewis said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, May 12.
The NDP leader also criticized the idea of data sovereignty, saying it doesn’t really exist in an AI ecosystem dominated by U.S. tech giants.
“This is a technology that will bring sweeping changes at a scale and speed never seen before. Canadians deserve real oversight and a robust regulatory framework before we rush ahead,” Lewis said. “That’s why we’re calling for an immediate pause on the construction of any new AI data centres until strong federal guardrails are in place.”
The release from Telus cautioned about the information.
“These forward-looking statements are made based on a number of assumptions, including assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on them as there is significant risk that actual results may vary materially from these forward-looking statements, including as a result of risks relating to regulatory decisions and developments, the competitive environment in which we operate, and our operating and financial results,” the company said.