An important caveat up front: the Government of Canada and Telus are currently advancing work under the federal initiative, but no funding has yet been committed or distributed.

With that context, Telus and the Government of Canada have announced a proposed Sovereign AI Factory cluster in B.C., as part of the federal Enabling Large-Scale Sovereign AI Data Centres initiative. The cluster will span three facilities and is designed to give Canadian businesses, researchers, and institutions access to world-class AI compute infrastructure without sending data or intellectual property outside Canadian borders.

The project builds on Telus' first Sovereign AI Factory in Rimouski, Quebec, which opened in September 2025 and is now fully sold out. Customers include Canadian businesses, startups, researchers, public institutions, and government organizations. The B.C. cluster will expand significantly on that foundation, scaling to more than 60,000 high-performance NVIDIA GPUs — the specialized chips that power AI model training and deployment — and 150 megawatts of capacity by 2032.

"Securing Canada's technological independence is a national priority, and it requires building the infrastructure to back it up," said Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation. "By working with Telus, we are taking concrete action to strengthen Canada's sovereign AI capacity and ensure that Canadian innovation, data, and economic advantages are anchored in Canada."

The three facilities are at different stages of development. Telus is expanding its existing Kamloops data centre, which will come online later this year. The M3 facility in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, developed with Westbank, is expected to open at the end of 2026, scaling through 2028. A third facility at 150 West Georgia in Vancouver, also developed with Westbank, will come online in 2029.

The sustainability specs are notable. The facilities will run on 98% renewable energy secured from BC Hydro, use a closed-loop liquid cooling system that reduces cooling energy consumption by 80% compared to traditional data centres, and recycle waste heat to warm the equivalent of 150,000 homes in metro Vancouver. Water consumption will be 90% lower than traditional data centres.

At full scale, the cluster is expected to deliver approximately $9 billion in economic value to BC and create more than 1,000 construction jobs and hundreds of high-skilled operations roles.

"The unprecedented demand that completely sold out our first AI Factory in Rimouski proves that Canadian innovators want cutting-edge AI built right here on Canadian soil," said Darren Entwistle, president and CEO of Telus. "We are sending a clear message to the world: Canada will lead the AI revolution with uncompromising technological power and unparalleled climate leadership."