Bell Canada: Bell Canada Thompson Rivers University (TRU)

Bell Canada, in partnership with iTel Networks, Groq, and Thompson Rivers University (TRU), is establishing a major AI data centre campus in Kamloops, British Columbia, on the TRU campus (1452 McGill Road). The project is part of Bell’s AI Fabric initiative, which aims to build a supercluster of six hydro-powered AI data centres in B.C., with an initial capacity of 500 MW. The first TRU-site facility, a 26 MW data centre, is scheduled to come online in spring 2026, with a second 26 MW facility expected in 2027. 

Kamloops offers several strategic advantages: access to clean, renewable hydroelectric power; stable environmental conditions; proximity to fibre networks and highway/rail infrastructure; and integration with TRU’s academic and trades programs for research, AI training, and workforce development.Waste heat from the data centres is intended to support the university’s Low-Carbon District Energy System. 

⚙️ Facility Highlights

• Power Capacity: Two TRU data centres each planned for ~26 MW capacity. 
• Phase One Facility: Earlier smaller inferencing facility of 7 MW off Mission Flats Road in Kamloops part of the Bell AI Fabric, but distinct from TRU’s main centres. 
• High Density Designed: Infrastructure is planned for high rack power densities; racks designed to support loads from ~30 kW to ~130 kW and beyond. 
• Cooling & Sustainability: Facility design includes fluid cooling, sharing waste heat with TRU's district energy system, built with BC-sourced mass timber and designed for ultra-high efficiency. 

🔐 Security & Compliance

There is limited public detail so far regarding some security & compliance components. What is verifiable:

• Academic & Institutional Oversight: TRU is directly involved, likely ensuring compliance with local building codes, institutional safety, environmental regulation, and sustainability standards.
• Operational Partnerships: Bell Canada and Groq are involved, both large firms with established security practices in AI infrastructure. While specific certifications (e.g. ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2) have not yet been publicly confirmed in available sources, the design descriptions suggest alignment with typical high-security standards. 

🌐 Connectivity & Carrier Access

• Network Integration: The TRU centre will connect via the BCNET network, which provides high-capacity academic/research connectivity across British Columbia. 
• Location in a Data Centre District: The McGill Road site is across the street from existing Telus and Equinix data centres on Bunker Road, indicating pre-existing dense fiber infrastructure and possibly multiple carriers nearby. 
• Low Latency Options: The facility is intended to support AI inference jobs locally (within Kamloops), reducing latency by utilizing local peering/entry points. 

💼 Who It Serves

• Academic / Research Institutions: TRU students and faculty in computing science, AI, software engineering, cybersecurity will benefit from access to high-performance infrastructure for teaching, research, and training. 
• AI & Machine Learning Workloads: Organizations needing inference compute, model training (especially those seeking clean-powered, sovereign AI capacities) will be direct users.
• Public Sector & Sustainability Oriented Entities: Groups interested in environmentally responsible compute, carbon reduction via waste heat reuse, and clean energy infrastructure integration.
• Local / Regional Economic / Trades Sectors: The project creates jobs across construction, trades, operations; supports curriculum in trades and technology.