Former New Brunswick premier-turned-entrepreneur Frank McKenna believes the province is sitting on an overlooked advantage that could play a defining role in attracting data centres.

In an interview with CBC, McKenna called the province’s extensive dark-fibre network an “extraordinary resource” that should not be squandered.

The former premier says decades-old investments by the former telephone company NBTel left Saint John and the rest of the province with a dense web of unused fibre-optic cable that is now drawing interest from AI and data-centre developers. That legacy, he argued, positions New Brunswick as a quiet standout at a time when demand for high-speed data transmission is accelerating.

“NBTel was extraordinarily progressive in terms of wiring New Brunswick and of making sure that we had ample amounts of dark fibre available for whatever use came along,” McKenna said in an interview about a proposed data centre in Saint John.

According to McKenna, that foresight has translated into a competitive edge today, giving the province what he describes as an “extraordinary resource” for the development of data centres and related technology projects.

The depth of that fibre network has led industry figures to describe Saint John as a “hidden gem” for AI. Texas-based VoltaGrid and Calgary-headquartered Beacon AI Centers announced in October that they plan to develop a data centre in the expanded Spruce Lake Industrial Park, citing the region’s fibre infrastructure as a key factor.

VoltaGrid CEO Nathan Ough is originally from Saint John.

The proposal has drawn opposition from residents in the Lorneville community, who have raised concerns about land use and environmental impacts.

Ian MacKinnon, head of Saint John Industrial Parks, told CBC that dark fibre has become one of the city’s strongest selling points when courting technology firms.

“One of the measures that companies look at is the round-trip time for [data] to go from here to Boston, Halifax, or Montreal,” he said. “And our round-trip times from the network infrastructure that’s already built in this area are significantly low.”

Others note that fibre alone is not enough. Uri Litvinenko, CEO of the Fibre Centre in Moncton, told CBC that New Brunswick benefits from having available capacity at a time when larger markets are saturated, but also acknowledged the province has historically lacked easy access to global data networks.

“Traditionally, though, New Brunswick has not been perceived as a place where you can hop on the data highway, because [the ramp] just wasn’t there,” he told his interviewer.

Not everyone is convinced the rush toward AI-driven data centres will pay off. Green Party Leader David Coon warned that other cities also have dark fibre and questioned the long-term value of projects that consume large amounts of energy.

“I just don’t see that sustaining itself,” Coon told CBC. “It’s really a gold-rush mentality we’ve got right now, and it’s not going to last.

But according to McKenna, the province cannot afford to let the opportunity pass, particularly given fiscal pressures and shifting Canada–U.S. relations.

“I think we’re going to need to wake up and smell the coffee,” he told CBC. “We have a lot of challenges in front of us and we’re going to have to take advantage of every single opportunity that we have in front of us.”

Beacon and VoltaGrid are proposing to develop their project on a 120-hectare land parcel in conjunction with Spruce Lake’s expansion. City council unanimously approved the expansion in July 2025.

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