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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Premier Wab Kinew says a planned artificial intelligence data centre southeast of Winnipeg will not go ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very clear AI is transforming our economy and our society,\u201d Kinew said. \u201cBut I think Manitobans want that to happen in a way where AI serves us and we\u2019re not servants of AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
Las Vegas-based Jet.AI Inc. and Consensus Core Technologies Inc., a British Columbia firm, are hoping to build a data centre on a 350-acre tract of farmland north of \u00cele-des-Ch\u00eanes, in the Rural Municipality of Ritchot.<\/p>\n
The companies say the project would be powered by natural gas turbines and scale up into the hundreds of megawatts.<\/p>\n
Jet.AI did not respond to an interview request.<\/p>\n
Consensus CEO Wayne Lloyd provided a statement, saying the company was reviewing the premier\u2019s comments and looks forward to \u201ca robust engagement process\u201d with the Manitoba government.<\/p>\n
He said the project doesn\u2019t need power from the provincial grid and would provide benefits to the economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt creates a significant amount of well-paying union jobs, both during and after construction,\u201d Lloyd said. \u201cIt will also provide millions of dollars in annual local tax revenue that would directly fund major community benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manitoba already has 10 data centres (nine in Winnipeg and one in Winkler), but none as large as the proposed \u00cele-des-Ch\u00eanes project. The hyperscale operations are a far different order of magnitude, according to Kinew.<\/p>\n
The Manitoba government stores a lot of data \u2014 such as individual health information \u2014 in these centres, and will need to build more to increase the province\u2019s compute (computational power) and ensure data sovereignty.<\/p>\n
Kinew said the provincial government\u2019s needs amount to one to 1.5 MW of computational power annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cSovereign compute, independence and freedom from big American tech companies when it comes to your private information? Yes,\u201d Kinew said. \u201cBut what that will look like is at a much different scale than this project that was proposed in \u00cele-des-Ch\u00eanes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinew said he\u2019s heard both enthusiasm and apprehension when speaking about large-scale data centres with members of the province\u2019s business community. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of excitement for what the potential economic benefits (are), but there\u2019s also a lot of concern about tying up our available power in something that may not benefit the broader economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t SUPPLIED<\/p>\n Las Vegas-based Jet.AI and Vancouver\u2019s Consensus Core are hoping to build an AI data centre on 141-hectares (350-acres) of farm land north of \u00cele-des-Ch\u00eanes.<\/p>\n Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, noted Kinew made his announcement about the \u00cele-des-Ch\u00eanes data centre on the same day the federal government released its new national AI strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe, as a province, need to make sure that as we move forward, we\u2019re doing so as part of a much more thoughtful strategy as to how we can support AI adoption and to what extent data centres will play into that locally,\u201d Remillard said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat strategy also has to consider the hard, cold reality that data centres do require significant energy \u2026 This is not a reason not to do them. (It\u2019s a factor) that needs to be considered thoughtfully.\u201d<\/p>\n The head of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce agreed, adding Manitobans need to be educated on what\u2019s involved in a data centre project so they can make decisions in the best interests of everyone in the province.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cThe hope is that it\u2019s not going to be a divisive issue and we\u2019re going to see more projects going forward,\u201d said Chuck Davidson, president and CEO.<\/p>\n The proposed data centre north of \u00cele-des-Ch\u00eanes drew concerns from residents, including Christie Little. She started a Change.org petition to stop the development that garnered more than 13,500 signatures.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m shocked that our province \u2026 would even consider a project like this,\u201d Little told the Free Press in March, a few weeks after creating the petition. \u201cI get that (AI is) happening \u2026 At the same time, there\u2019s zero reason why these AI data centres need to be popping up in and near towns and residences.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 with files from Scott Billeck and The Canadian Press<\/p>\n aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Aaron Epp Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. Read more about Aaron<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Aaron produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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