Buzz HPC Plans 320MW AI Data Center in Toronto, Backed by $2.55 Billion Investment
May 18, 2026
Buzz HPC Plans 320MW AI Data Center in Toronto, Backed by $2.55 Billion Investment
Hive Digital Technologies’ subsidiary, Buzz HPC, has announced plans to develop a 320MW data center in the Greater Toronto area, marking a significant expansion of sovereign AI infrastructure in Canada. The facility, designed exclusively for AI workloads, is expected to host more than 100,000 GPUs at full build-out, positioning it as one of the country’s largest dedicated AI computing sites.
The project will be built across two parcels of land totaling 25 acres, which the company purchased for CA$58 million (US$42.21 million). The site already benefits from a 320MW power allocation, a critical asset in an era where energy availability is a primary constraint for large-scale data center development. The total investment in the project is estimated at CA$3.5 billion (US$2.55 billion), and construction is targeting a go-live date in the second half of 2027. At least 800 construction jobs are expected to be created during the building phase.
Frank Holmes, executive chairman of Hive and Buzz HPC, emphasized the strategic importance of the facility. “AI is the new industrial base and compute is the factory floor. Canada produced the Godfathers of deep learning but kept renting the factories. That era is over. Between Toronto and Waterloo, Buzz is building the sovereign AI infrastructure that turns Canadian intelligence into Canadian dominance.”
The data center will be located in a region rich with AI talent and research institutions, situated between the legacy of Geoffrey Hinton, the University of Toronto, and the Vector Institute to the east, and Waterloo to the west. This geographic positioning is intended to strengthen Canada’s domestic AI capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign computing resources.
Aydin Kilic, president and CEO of Hive Digital Technologies, provided further details on the company’s broader strategy. “We have been strategically land-banking by regional substations, and we are very pleased to announce this expansion. Hive now has over 850MW of power globally; this includes our 450MW of operating data centers plus a pipeline of 400MW of capacity, which we expect to bring online in 2027.” He added that the company currently operates 5,500 GPUs online for AI compute, along with a 70MW site in New Brunswick’s Grand Falls, and the new 320MW GTA site. “We have the land and power to develop a pipeline of infrastructure to support approximately 130,000 GPUs. This puts Hive and Buzz at a global scale, with the largest AI native clouds.”
The facility will employ a closed-loop cooling system with a “no-water use” approach, aligning with growing industry demands for sustainable data center operations. It will serve as the anchor site for Buzz’s AI platform in Canada, with other locations under development in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. In Canada, Buzz is working with Bell Canada on several deployments, including a 6.5MW site added in March 2026 at a Bell Canada data center in Merritt, British Columbia. Globally, Hive also has data centers in operation or under development in Sweden and Paraguay.
Buzz, originally known as Hive Cloud, offers access to Nvidia H100s, A6000s, A5000s, A40s, and H200s. Hive Digital Technologies, formerly Hive Blockchain, was founded and went public in 2017. While it continues to offer cryptomining services, the company is pivoting to focus primarily on its HPC customers, reflecting a broader industry shift toward AI-dedicated infrastructure.
Source: datacenterdynamics
