Canada and TELUS advance sovereign AI data center project

The Government of Canada and TELUS are advancing work under the “Enabling large-scale sovereign AI data centers” initiative to progress a proposed large-scale AI data center project in British Columbia.

• Main announcement: The Government of Canada and TELUS are advancing work on a proposed large-scale AI data center project in British Columbia under the government’s Enabling large-scale sovereign AI data centers initiative, intended to increase Canada’s sovereign compute capacity and support academia and industry; this engagement follows the Budget 2025 mandate to identify a limited number of projects and engage promising proponents via non-binding memoranda of understanding (MOU).
• Background and details: The government ran a call for proposals from Jan 15 to Feb 15, 2026; the announcement reiterates Budget 2025 intent to explore mechanisms to enable large-scale commercial AI data centers in Canada and states no funding has yet been committed or distributed; TELUS referenced its first AI factory in Rimouski being sold out as context for demand.