Regina’s new Indoor Aquatic Facility, which officially broke ground in August 2025, will be heated using deep geothermal energy, making it sustainable and nearly emissions-free.

It is not new technology but it t is something new for Canada and for the province of Saskatchewan, says geologist Erik Nickel, chief operating officer at Petroleum Technology Research Centre who co-authored the preliminary feasibility study Regina used in 2023 to secure federal funding for the two joined projects.

The geothermal aspect made the project eligible for funding from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program under the Recreation and Green Infrastructure streams, which require clean energy or other climate change adaptations. Initial modelling anticipates using geothermal will cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 8,829 tonnes per year, the same as taking 2,355 cars off the road annually.

Set to open in 2029, this will be Regina’s first public year-round pool to include waterslides, a wave pool and a lazy river. The facility will feature two 50-metre Olympic-sized pools designed to host national competitions, alongside a wave pool, watersides, dry land training spaces, community areas and outdoor play structures.

The project has been more than 15 years in the making. Marj Walton, executive director of Swim Saskatchewan, was part of the first feasibility study in 2010 and has advocated for a new facility ever since. She says the impact on athletes will be immediate.

“Right now, because there’s only one pool, swimming can’t host a national competition; we need two. And for water polo, the depth isn’t enough to host certain national events either,” Walton explained. “This new facility finally creates those opportunities, while giving more kids the chance to get involved in aquatic sports.”

On top of the competitive benefits, Walton says the addition of Regina’s first indoor leisure pool outside hotels will be a draw for families and visiting athletes alike.

While the IAF is set to cost $285.1 million, the geothermal facility has a separate budget of $28.5 million. The two attached facilities will be built together, planned to open in 2029.

Geological researchers have known about Regina’s geothermal potential since a test well was drilled at the University of Regina in 1979 but geothermal energy is a largely untapped renewable resource, despite an expansive underground saline aquifer called the Deadwood formation that stretches from the Rocky Mountains across Alberta and Saskatchewan, and down to South Dakota.

“Regina is in a kind of Goldilocks zone, where the water is hot enough but not so deep it’s as expensive to drill,” Nickel explained.

Regina will use the heated brine water stored in the aquifer’s porous rock, which requires extraction using methods similar to oil drilling. Two wells will be drilled to around 2,200 metres deep— angled about one kilometre apart underground at their base — to reach water at a temperature of 60-degrees Celsius.

Pumps pull the hot water up via the source well, where it will be processed through an above-ground heat exchanger. The cooled water is then pumped back underground through the return well. The heat replaces a natural gas boiler that would otherwise be used for the IAF’s pool water and building.

PTRC estimates the Deadwood aquifer will be a viable source of heated water for up to 70 years before the extraction process cools the overall temperature of the underground formation. For now, the city only plans to use geothermal energy for its aquatic centre, but PTRC says it could be expanded to fuel other facilities. 

The cover image is a conceptual design rendering of the Indoor Aquatics Facility, from the City of Regina website,