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A large AI data centre pitched for a 141-hectare tract of farmland south of Winnipeg will not go ahead, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says.<\/p>\n
“We’ve taken a look at this project. We’ve taken a look at AI more broadly \u2014 what’s happening across North America \u2014 and these hyperscale data centres don’t appear to be in the best interests of Manitobans,” he told CBC Manitoba Information Radio host Marcy Markusa on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“So we’re going to say no to this data centre.”<\/p>\n
Las Vegas-based\u00a0Jet.AI\u00a0and Vancouver-based Consensus Core planned to build a data centre powered by natural gas turbines just north of\u00a0Ile des Ch\u00eanes in the rural municipality of Ritchot.<\/p>\n
CBC has reached out to Jet.ai and Consensus Core but has not yet received a response.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780594150_638_default.jpg\")
This Jet.AI map shows the proposed location for a data centre north of Ile des Ch\u00eanes in the rural municipality of Ritchot. (Jet.AI)<\/p>\n
An online petition against the project, citing negative impacts of noise, light and air pollution, has gathered more than 13,500 signatures to date.<\/p>\n
Climate Action Team Manitoba, a coalition of environmental and community non-profit organizations, issued a “position statement”<\/a> in March on such huge AI facilities, saying they “would threaten Manitoba\u2019s clean energy future.”<\/p>\n Kinew said he is concerned about the impact on both the environment and the rural community.<\/p>\n “We got to be mindful of the unique way of life and the benefits that rural Manitobans want to keep,” he said.<\/p>\n And while there would be a buzz of economic activity during the construction phase of the project, once built, it offers little benefit to the province, Kinew said.<\/p>\n “In fact, most of the economic benefit probably leaves the province.”<\/p>\n Ile des Ch\u00eanes resident Christie Little, who started the petition against the centre, said Thursday’s news put her “completely over the moon.”<\/p>\n “I’m so happy to hear that the provincial government is listening to us and the things that we have to say, and they’re actually looking into how this can affect our lives \u2026 our province and our environment,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s a huge win for us.”<\/p>\n Kinew said the decision doesn’t mean there won\u2019t be data centres built in the province.<\/p>\n There are already nine in Winnipeg and one in Winkler<\/a>, but none so large. The government stores a lot of data, such as health information for Manitobans, in smaller centres.<\/p>\n WATCH | Proposed data centre won’t go ahead, Kinew says: Wab Kinew says no to AI data centre proposal south of Winnipeg<\/p>\n A large AI data centre pitched for a 141-hectare tract of farmland south of Winnipeg will not go ahead, Manitoba’s premier told Information Radio host Marcy Markusa in a Thursday morning interview.<\/p>\n In order to safeguard information, rather than put it on a cloud system operated by a large company, the province bought a rack of GPUs (graphics processing units) and beefed up MERLIN (Manitoba Education, Research and Learning Information Networks<\/a>).<\/p>\n “That’s the scale of data centre that we’re going to do,” Kinew said. <\/p>\n “We use about one to 1.5 megawatts of compute as the entire government \u2026 so the idea of building, like, a 500-megawatt facility, it doesn’t really make sense.”<\/p>\n Kinew’s decision comes as other provinces are diving into the big data centres<\/a> \u2014 and on the same day that Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled Canada’s AI strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Kinew compares the surge to embrace those centres to another scramble in the 1800s.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780594151_86_default.jpg\")
This field across from Christie Little’s home near Ile des Ch\u00eanes where the AI data centre was proposed to go. (Jura McIlraith\/CBC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780594151_991_default.jpg\")
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