Bell was released from the All Blacks camp in time to come off the bench and score the winning try in the 83rd minute of Sunday's thrilling 31-25 win over Tasman which saw Canterbury retain the shield.
He starts this week, replacing Manumaua Letiu in the No 2 jersey, with the young hooker sliding to the bench.
The other changes see Australian prop Darcy Breen replace Seb Calder on the tighthead side, while Dominic Gardiner returns from injury at blindside flanker, with Zach Gallagher moving to the bench.
Jone Rova replaces Dallas McLeod at second-five and Kurtis MacDonald starts on the right wing. Chay Fihaki moves to fullback and Andrew Knewstubb to the bench.
It will be Canterbury's second match with the shield since they won it off Southland two weeks ago in Invercargill.
They also top the NPC table with seven wins from as many games and have a seven-point buffer over Otago in second.
Otago are coming off back-to-back wins over Northland and Taranaki respectively.
Canterbury loose forward George Reeves is set to play his fourth shield game in as many weeks. The Lincoln University player represented Southland on loan this season to gain first-class experience, but was recalled by Canterbury last week to play against Tasman. He came off the bench in the victory.
Reeves won the shield off Waikato with Southland before losing it to Canterbury, but will now be defending it with the red-and-blacks.
- The game at Apollo Projects Stadium kicks off at 4.35pm on Saturday. The Canterbury women's team play first, with their Farah Palmer Cup clash against Bay of Plenty kicking off at 2.05pm.
Canterbury squad
Chay Fihaki, Kurtis MacDonald, Braydon Ennor, Ngane Punivai, James White, Louie Chapman, Torian Barnes, Tom Christie (c), Dominic Gardiner, Jamie Hannah, Sam Darry, Darcy Breen, George Bell, Finlay Brewis. Reserves: Manumaua Letiu, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Gus Brown, Zach Gallagher, George Reeves, Tyson Belworthy, Andrew Knewstubb, Toby Bell.
