Canada's BCE to invest $1.7 billion in Saskatchewan AI data center

March 16 (Reuters) - Canadian telecom firm BCE BCE.TO said on Monday it will invest an additional $1.7 billion to build a 300-megawatt AI data center in Saskatchewan, with Cerebras and CoreWeave CRWV.O signed on as tenants.

• BCE unit Bell Canada is working with the provincial government to build and run the AI data center.

• Once complete, it will be the largest purpose-built AI data center development anywhere in Canada, Bell Canada said.

• BCE expects to incur about $1.3 billion in capital expenditures in 2026 for the construction of this facility.

• The investment will be funded through a combination of debt and cash on hand.

• Cerebras will supply AI chips for large‑scale training and computing, while CoreWeave will provide AI computing capacity using Nvidia processors.

• Construction is set to begin this spring, with the facility coming online in phases, and the first stage expected to be operational in the first half of 2027.

• The facility will serve as a regional hub for advanced computing, helping expand Canada's AI ecosystem while delivering economic benefits to Saskatchewan.

• The data center will be connected to Bell's fibre network through a partnership with SaskTel, with the two companies acting as go-to-market partners to offer AI‑powered products and services to SaskTel customers.

• BCE raised its forecast for AI-powered solutions revenue to about $2 billion by 2028, from about $1.5 billion earlier.