💻 Bell Canada Increases Sovereign AI Capacity with Bell AI Fabric

Sunday, 01 June 2025 12:00.PM

- Major investment will provide companies access to cutting edge AI Compute in Canada -

Bell Canada today announced Bell AI Fabric, a major investment that will create the country's largest artificial intelligence (AI) compute project and ensure that Canadian companies can continue to compete and win in the global AI economy.

Bell AI Fabric will create a national network starting with a data centre supercluster in British Columbia that will aim to provide upwards of 500 MW of hydro-electric powered AI compute capacity across six facilities.

Bell AI Fabric underscores Bell's capabilities as a leading full-stack AI Managed Service Provider that can support Canadian enterprises and governments across their full spectrum of AI needs, from strategy and applications development through infrastructure deployment.

This initiative represents Bell's long-term objective to drive AI innovation and economic growth in Canada. With cutting-edge technology and ensuring data sovereignty, Bell is poised to lead the way in delivering secure, reliable, and transformative AI solutions for businesses and communities across the country.

"Bell's AI Fabric will ensure that Canadian businesses, researchers, and public institutions can access high-performance, sovereign and environmentally responsible AI computing services. Through this investment, Bell is immediately bolstering Canada's sovereign AI compute capacity, while laying the groundwork to continue growing our AI economy. This is transformational for our customers, for Canada and for Bell."
- Mirko Bibic, President & CEO, BCE and Bell Canada

Bell AI Fabric national network

The first of Bell's AI Fabric facilities will come online in June 2025 in partnership with leading AI inference provider, Groq and the launch of their 7 MW AI inference facility in Kamloops, BC. Additional AI facilities will come online by the end of 2026, including a 26 MW AI data centre being built in partnership with Thompson Rivers University (TRU).

Two other AI datacentres with a combined capacity of more than 400 MW are also in advanced planning stages with stakeholders.

Bell AI Fabric includes:

• Two 7 MW AI facilities that will be live this year. The first will open in Kamloops, BC in June 2025, and is powered by Groq's cutting-edge LPUs, which are designed to accelerate artificial intelligence inference tasks, particularly for large language models (LLMs). The second facility will open in Merritt, BC by the end of this year.
• Two additional 26 MW AI data centres in Kamloops. The first will open in 2026 at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) and will be followed by a second 26 MW data centre in 2027.
• Two AI data centres in advanced planning stages, which will be designed for high-density AI workloads, powered by clean hydroelectricity and with a total capacity of more than 400 MW.
• Other facilities planned across the country will take advantage of Bell's nationwide real estate assets and will further add to the capacity of Bell AI Fabric.

"BC has a robust and rapidly growing AI sector, and the supercluster of data centres will drive innovation, create jobs, and further strengthen our province's position as an emerging world-class AI hub."

- Diana Gibson, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, Government of British Columbia

Advanced compute technology powered by Groq

Bell has selected Groq as its inference infrastructure partner to support the development of sovereign AI in Canada, ensuring that customers have access to the most up-to-date technology to power their AI workloads. Groq's advanced LPUs deliver faster inference performance than other processing units at significantly lower costs per token than existing market alternatives.

"Groq's advanced LPU technology, combined with Bell's extensive fibre infrastructure, is setting a new standard in AI inference. We're excited to bring these capabilities to Canada, significantly enhancing performance and affordability for AI-driven applications."
- Jonathan Ross, CEO and Founder, Groq, An academic partnership with Thompson Rivers University

The data centre at TRU will be designed to host AI training and inference, providing students and faculty with access to cutting-edge compute capabilities, both at TRU and nationally through integration with the BCNET network. The data centre is also being integrated into the district energy system, with waste heat being repurposed to provide energy to TRU's buildings.

"Thompson Rivers University is proud to partner in this groundbreaking initiative, positioning Kamloops and British Columbia at the forefront of sustainable AI innovation. This collaboration will create unprecedented opportunities for students, researchers, and our community."
- Shannon Wagner, Interim Provost and VP Academic, Thompson Rivers University