Bell Canada, Cohere, Hypertec and Buzz High Performance Computing (HPC) have entered into a major AI infrastructure agreement centred on Bell’s Merritt, B.C., data centre.

The agreement is aimed at supporting advanced AI workloads on sovereign Canadian infrastructure. The partnership will combine Bell AI Fabric’s data-centre and connectivity services, Cohere’s enterprise AI models and solutions, Buzz HPC’s accelerated computing infrastructure, and Hypertec’s Canadian-manufactured hardware powered by NVIDIA’s DSX AI factory platform. The companies said the collaboration is intended to support AI research and development using Canadian infrastructure and partners while strengthening Canada’s digital sovereignty and economic resilience.

Under the agreement, Bell will provide data-centre capacity and connectivity from its Merritt facility, which was purpose-built for AI workloads. Buzz HPC will supply the AI-native cloud layer using Hypertec’s Canadian-built hardware and NVIDIA accelerated computing, while Cohere will operate its foundation models and deliver enterprise-grade AI solutions for government and business customers.

“Canada has the talent and innovation to lead in AI – what’s been missing is the ambition to bring the right ingredients together,” said Michel Richer, president of Bell AI Fabric.

“This landmark deal helps close that gap. Through our partnership, Cohere will operate its AI models in Bell AI Fabric infrastructure, enabled by the combined capabilities of Hypertec and Buzz HPC.”

Michael Pelosi, Cohere’s country manager for Canada, said the partnership provides another way to support Canadian customers with advanced AI technology.

“This collaboration gives Cohere another way to support customers in Canada with advanced AI that is built for real use, on infrastructure that reflects Canadian priorities,” he said.

Don Schlidt, president of Hypertec HPC & AI, said the agreement combines advanced computing infrastructure with the deployment and service capabilities required to operate next-generation AI environments.

Craig Tavares, president and chief operating officer of Buzz HPC, said the partnership addresses a key national need by bringing together Canadian data centre, AI model and computing expertise. “Canada helped invent modern AI. Now we are building the factories to power it.”

The data centre opened in spring 2026. Bell said previously that the facility would provide high-performance computing capacity for Canadian organizations.

Buzz has secured an initial 6.5 megawatts of gross capacity at the Merritt site, with the option to access additional power over time. The company plans to scale next-generation GPU clusters at the facility for commercial use, supporting both AI training and inference workloads.

The Merritt data centre has been engineered to handle intensive AI demands using high-density, liquid-cooled infrastructure and accelerated GPU computing systems, along with design and scaling capabilities for complex deployments, according to Bell.

Photo: Buzz HPC