The TELUS Sovereign AI Factory offers end-to-end AI development, allowing clients to build new models (training), adapt existing ones to specific needs (fine-tuning), and deploy them in operations (inferencing). As the first North American service provider in the NVIDIA Cloud Partner network, TELUS and its customers benefit from high-performance reference architecture and software that can significantly reduce AI deployment time and costs.
Healthcare leader League will use the TELUS facility to operate its AI-powered solutions, improving personalized healthcare delivery for millions of Canadians while ensuring sensitive data remains within the country. Similarly, Accenture will develop industry-specific solutions for highly regulated sectors—including public services, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and financial services—leveraging the platform to accelerate AI adoption while keeping data and intellectual property in Canada. OpenText will also utilize the factory for its Aviator AI platform, serving over 1,600 Canadian enterprise and government clients with secure, scalable, and sovereign cloud AI services.
The AI factory builds on TELUS’ history of innovation, including its Fuel iX generative AI platform, and emphasizes responsible AI development. The facility is powered by 99% renewable energy, operates with three times the industry’s average energy efficiency, and reduces water consumption by over 75% through natural cooling systems, demonstrating that advanced AI capabilities can coexist with environmental sustainability.
Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO, said: “Today marks a defining milestone for Canada's digital future. With the launch of our nation’s first fully Sovereign AI Factory in Rimouski, we are maximizing Canadian autonomy over sensitive data. By delivering advanced compute power within data centres built, owned, and operated by Canadians, TELUS is safeguarding our data, protecting our sovereignty, and empowering our economy.”
The Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, added: “TELUS' new sovereign AI initiative supports the government's vision for AI-driven productivity and competitiveness. By keeping data and compute within Canada, TELUS is contributing to responsible innovation and strengthening our broader economic objectives.”
Industry partners also emphasized the importance of sovereign AI infrastructure. Ronnie Vasishta, NVIDIA Senior VP, noted that the factory allows Canadian businesses to innovate while protecting data. HPE’s Trish Damkroger highlighted that purpose-built sovereign solutions provide scale, performance, and governance to unlock growth. Valerie Pisano, President and CEO of Mila – Quebec AI Institute, added that the facility addresses a critical gap in high-performance, locally controlled computing, enabling Canadian AI research to translate into real-world applications.
TELUS’ Rimouski AI factory sets a new benchmark for AI sovereignty, supporting domestic innovation, secure data management, and economic growth while providing Canadian organizations with cutting-edge computational resources.
