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A new partnership between Bell Canada and Toronto-based enterprise AI company Cohere is designed to meet a growing need among Canadian businesses and governments: access to advanced, secure AI tools that keep sensitive data within the country.
Announced on July 28, the deal brings Cohere’s enterprise-grade models, including its agentic AI platform North, into Bell AI Fabric, Bell’s infrastructure and services stack designed to help organizations adopt artificial intelligence securely and at scale. Bell becomes Cohere’s preferred infrastructure partner in Canada, while Cohere becomes Bell’s go-to for AI agents and large language models.
“At a critical time for Canada, we’re proud to partner with Cohere to create a sovereign, full-stack AI solution, custom-built to support Canadian government and business,” says Mirko Bibic, president and CEO of Bell Canada. “Working together, we will both transform Canadian businesses through cutting edge AI capabilities, while ensuring that the data remains secure and within Canada.”
A secure alternative for regulated sectors
For many CIOs and public sector leaders, the promise of AI is being held back by the reality of data residency, security requirements, and compliance frameworks that don’t always fit with consumer-grade tools. The Bell-Cohere partnership is positioned as a direct response to those concerns.
Bell AI Fabric is made up of four integrated layers:
Hardware infrastructure, including AI-optimized data centres connected to Canada’s largest fibre network.
Software, featuring Cohere’s tuned LLMs and machine learning platforms.
Advisory and professional services, led by Ateko, Bell’s enterprise tech services brand.
Applications, such as Cohere’s North platform for building and deploying AI agents.
“Our partnership with Bell Canada will provide the Canadian government and enterprises with world-class options for sovereign, security-first AI,” says Aidan Gomez, co-founder and CEO of Cohere. “This has the potential to be truly transformative for organizations looking to massively increase their productivity and efficiency without any compromise on data security and privacy.”
Bell is also rolling out North internally, training agents on its own data to improve workflows. Bell’s hands-on use of North will help guide how it supports clients through Ateko.
“These companies exemplify the spirit of Canadian ingenuity and are solidifying Canada’s sovereign AI capabilities,” says Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation. “This partnership will help strengthen our position on the global stage and pave the way for a brighter, more advanced future for the Canadian economy.”
What this means for Canadian AI buyers
For companies operating under strict data handling rules, or who simply want to keep their IP on Canadian soil, the partnership offers a rare combination of cutting-edge tools, built in Canada, deployed on Canadian infrastructure, and backed by professional services from a company that’s using the tools itself.
Bell says this will improve the managed services it offers to teams exploring AI without needing to build infrastructure themselves.
With so much of the AI stack still dominated by U.S.-based platforms, the Bell-Cohere alliance gives local businesses and public agencies a more aligned option. The message to decision-makers being that you don’t have to choose between scale and sovereignty.
Final shots
The Bell-Cohere partnership offers a viable AI path for Canadian companies in regulated or risk-sensitive industries.
Bell is testing the tools internally, giving it hands-on experience to support client adoption.
As demand for secure, compliant AI grows, sovereign infrastructure could become a key competitive advantage.