TELUS has announced plans to establish its first sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) factories in Rimouski, Quebec, and Kamloops, British Columbia, positioning both communities at the forefront of Canada's next generation of sustainable and globally competitive AI infrastructure.
Aligned with the ambitious goals of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy to advance a secure and self-reliant digital economy, this pioneering initiative will provide sovereign, high-performance AI computing resources to power the nation's digital future.
As the first North American service provider to become an official NVIDIA Cloud Partner, TELUS will deploy NVIDIA's latest Hopper- and Blackwell-based supercomputers at these facilities. The first facility will commence operations this summer in Rimouski, Quebec, followed by expansion to TELUS's second facility in Kamloops, British Columbia.
"Our Sovereign AI Factories are the first-of-their-kind in Canada and represent a key step forward in our country's AI journey," said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of TELUS. "Located within TELUS's state-of-the-art data centers in Rimouski and Kamloops, these powerful and secure facilities will ensure every piece of data, every computation, and every breakthrough will be born and remain within our borders. This will not only make Canada even more competitive and future-ready, it will also enable the acceleration of innovations in key areas of importance in the hearts and minds of Canadians, such as health, sustainability, and agriculture. Importantly, this initiative will strengthen our nation's ability to develop advanced AI technology and increase productivity, empowering homegrown businesses and Canadian researchers to innovate courageously and compete on the global stage."
These facilities exemplify TELUS's long-standing commitment to fueling regional innovation through world-class digital infrastructure. A decade ago, TELUS's data centers emerged as powerful engines of economic growth, retaining and fostering local talent while supporting emerging startups, research organizations, public institutions, and businesses across the country. Now, with the transformation of these data centers into AI Factories, TELUS is building on this legacy, fostering entrepreneurship, and creating new employment opportunities in the rapidly expanding AI economy.
TELUS's sovereign AI factories will be fully owned, operated, and secured on Canadian soil by a Canadian company, ensuring that the compute power and intellectual property fueling AI development remain within the country. This helps ensure data security and privacy in critical and sensitive sectors such as healthcare, finance, and public services.
Designed with sustainability at their core, the TELUS AI Factories are powered by 99% renewable energy and are among the most environmentally sustainable data centers in the world. Their revolutionary natural cooling systems reduce water consumption by more than 75% compared to traditional data centers, saving 17 million liters of water per year.
These facilities feature purpose-built infrastructure optimized for AI workloads, making them three times more energy efficient for excess power usage and eliminating over 300 tons of carbon emissions (enough to power a thousand households).
By strategically positioning major AI hubs in both eastern and western Canada, TELUS is ensuring equitable access to advanced computing resources while strengthening the nation's technological leadership. The AI Factories also build upon the innovation TELUS is delivering with Fuel iX, its enterprise generative AI (GenAI) platform empowering organizations with advanced and secure AI capabilities.
From driving Canadian innovation to empowering local businesses, TELUS's Sovereign AI Factories represent a bold step towards Canada's technological leadership. With its world-class infrastructure, strategic partnerships, and deep-rooted community connections, TELUS is helping ensure that the future of AI is built for Canadians, by Canadians, and in Canada.
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