Program Guide: AI Compute Access Fund

Table of contents

1. Program Description
   • 1.1 Description & Objectives
   • 1.2 Eligibility criteria
   • 1.3 Eligible activities
   • 1.4 Financial support
   • 1.5 Eligible costs
   • 1.6 Ineligible costs
2. Submitting an Application
   • 2.1 Competitive process
   • 2.2 Sign up, create an account and verify your identity
   • 2.3 Submit your statement of interest
   • 2.4 Submit a full application
3. Assessment and Selection
   • 3.1 Due diligence and benefits assessment
   • 3.2 Recipient selection and prioritization
   • 3.3 Attributes of a strong proposal
   • 3.4 Intellectual Property obligations
4. Signing a Contribution Agreement
   • 4.1 Accepting the terms and conditions
5. Managing a Project funded by ISED
   • 5.1 Reporting requirements
   • 5.2 Submitting claims for reimbursement
6. Resources and Contact information
   • 6.1 Resources
   • 6.2 Contact information

1. Program Description

1.1 Description & Objectives

The AI Compute Access Fund was announced on December 5, 2024, as part of the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy. Through an investment of up to $300 million, this fund seeks to combat the high cost of AI compute resources and the limited availability of domestic capacity.

The objectives of the AI Compute Access Fund are to:

1. Accelerate AI innovation and commercialization by leading Canadian firms by supporting the costliest component in the AI innovation value chain – compute.
2. Target support to Canadian AI SMEs engaging in R&D/compute projects with a concrete pathway to commercialization.
3. Support use of a diverse range of external compute suppliers so companies can stay competitive in a rapidly changing industry.

The AI Compute Access Fund provides financial support to enable Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access state-of-the-art computing infrastructure, empowering them to remain competitive and scale their business in Canada. Through this Program, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) will:

• Cover two-thirds of your eligible costs for Canadian, cloud-based compute services (2:1)
• Cover half of your eligible costs for non-Canadian, cloud-based compute services (1:1) up until March 31, 2027 as per section 1.4.4

Companies can submit proposals for compute costs between $100,000 and $5,000,000 with a duration until up to March 31, 2028. This does not have to represent the full value of the company's compute costs, but only those eligible costs that fall within the program range will be considered.

This Program Guide provides detailed information on the objectives, eligibility criteria, application process, and funding guidelines for the AI Compute Access Fund. The guide will be periodically updated to reflect any changes or new information. This version was updated on June 24, 2025.

1.2 Eligibility criteria

1.2.1 To be eligible for the AI Compute Access Fund, recipients must meet all of the following criteria:

1. Be an active Canadian-registered for-profit company developing AI products or services, or consortiums of organizations where one corporation or LLP is the project lead applicant.
2. Recipients must be a registered corporation or LLP with less than 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.
3. Recipients must have Canada-based R&D teams and be willing to carry out project activities within Canada.
4. Recipients must be revenue-generating and/or able to demonstrate investor interest through a minimum of Series A financing.
5. Recipients must have contracts, invoices, or other documentation for compute services in place or in progress at the time of application. If selected, recipients who indicated their compute service agreement was in progress will need to demonstrate it is in place in advance to the signing of the Contribution Agreement.

1.2.2 In recognition of the diverse structures and systemic barriers faced by Indigenous businesses, applicants to the AI Compute Access Fund that are not incorporated may still be deemed eligible if they meet the following criteria:

• The business is a for-profit entity;
• The business is at least 51% owned and controlled by Indigenous Peoples, groups, or organizations;
• The business demonstrates a clear and direct benefit to Indigenous communities through economic, social, or cultural outcomes;
• The business operates as a sole proprietorship, partnership, cooperative, micro-enterprise, or other unincorporated entity.

To apply under this exception, interested businesses may provide their Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) business number. The program will review the submission and confirm whether any additional documentation is required to verify Indigenous ownership and control, following guidance from established Indigenous business registries and verification approaches.

1.3 Eligible activities

Eligible Activities are those activities related to assisting Recipients in developing, training, or operating their AI model(s):

1. Training: This may include Recipients using funding to access cloud-based compute services to train and refine their AI model(s) prior to commercial launch.
2. Inference: This may include, for example, Recipients using cloud-based service providers to provide inference services to ensure their customers can use their AI product or service.
3. Other related: This may include, for example, Recipients using cloud-based service providers to modify, improve, or otherwise fine-tune existing AI models.

1.4 Financial support

1.4.1. Eligible proposals must have total eligible costs between $100,000 and $5 million for projects lasting up to three years (up to March 31, 2028). Applicants will be asked to indicate their requested funding by fiscal year in the application. If selected, final funding amounts will be confirmed at the time a funding offer is made.

1.4.2 Financial support will be offered as either a non-repayable, conditionally repayable or repayable contribution. The type of funding provided will be determined during the assessment phase, based on the scope and depth of the project's proposed innovative, economic and public benefits:

• Non-repayable contributions will be considered for projects that demonstrate strong benefits to Canada, strong alignment with program objectives, and an appropriate risk profile. Applicants must clearly articulate in their proposals how their innovation will deliver concrete, measurable benefits. Only those proposals that sufficiently demonstrate these benefits may be eligible for non-repayable support.
• Conditionally repayable contributions may include provisions that allow for certain repayment conditions to be waived if specific milestones are achieved. These may include, for example, achieving commercialization without generating revenue, committing to make significant intellectual property registrations in Canada, or maintaining public benefits even if commercialization is not realized.
• If an application is successful but does not demonstrate strong benefits to Canada, the applicant may still be offered support in the form of a repayable contribution agreement.

1.4.3 Contributions will cover up to two-thirds of the eligible costs for Canadian AI compute services, and up to 1/2 of the eligible costs for non-Canadian AI Compute services.

1.4.4 Effective April 1, 2027, expenditures related to non-Canadian compute services shall no longer be eligible for offset under the Program. Only costs incurred through Canadian compute providers that satisfy the criteria set forth in Section 1.4.5 shall be deemed eligible. Recipients relying exclusively on foreign compute services will no longer be permitted to claim offsets for such expenditures following the aforementioned date.

1.4.5 To be considered a Canadian AI compute service provider, providers must be legally registered and incorporated in Canada and they must operate physical data centres located within Canadian territory, such that all computing infrastructure, data storage, and processing resources used to provide artificial intelligence-related computing services are hosted exclusively in Canada.

1.4.6 The maximum level of assistance from Canadian federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments ("stacking") received by any Recipient for eligible activities must not to exceed 100% of eligible costs. To ensure the stacking provisions are respected, applicants will be required at the proposal stage to disclose all sources of project funding, including those from other federal, provincial/territorial and municipal programs (including implicit subsidies, rebates, forgivable loans, etc.).

1.5 Eligible costs

1.5.1 Eligible Expenditures are those incurred by a Recipient and necessary to carry out the Eligible Activities to which they relate. Eligible Expenditures are incurred in the fiscal year in which contribution funding is provided.

1.5.2 Only costs incurred after the signing of the Contribution Agreement and deemed necessary to achieve the objectives for which program funding was awarded will be eligible.

1.5.3 Any costs incurred prior to signing of a Contribution Agreement would be incurred solely at the applicant's risk without obligation of payment by the Minister or equivalent.

1.5.4 On a case-by-case basis, the program may consider supporting the inclusion of Eligible Expenditures that an eligible Recipient incurred following the effective date of the Terms and Conditions of the program but no earlier than the date the proposal is received and approved by ISED, and prior to the signing of the Contribution Agreement within a funded fiscal year.

1.5.5 Recipients may use either domestic or foreign compute service providers, provided that such providers are not headquartered in, or operating from, a country or jurisdiction where Canada has imposed any sanctions, or where there are national security concerns or regulatory restrictions as per the Global Affairs Canada website.

1.5.6 Recipients using domestic compute service providers will need to provide supporting documentation to confirm that they meet the criteria described in section 1.4.5.

1.5.7 Eligible costs are payment(s) towards service contracts with AI compute services providers for the listed Eligible Activities in section 1.3, including:

1. Core compute expenses;
2. Storage costs;
3. Compute-specific licensing
4. AI/ML processing;
5. Operational monitoring;
6. Compute-specific security requirements.

1.5.8 Recipients may use quotes or invoices as part of their application but can only be reimbursed after incurring and paying for Eligible Expenditures within their own financial records.

1.6 Ineligible costs

1.6.1 Regardless of whether the costs are incurred responsibly and properly by a Recipient, the following costs are ineligible:

1. Federal and provincial goods and services taxes;
2. Pre-payment for services beyond the duration of the contribution agreement;
3. Interest charges, late fees, fines and penalties;
4. Support or service plans;
5. Data transfer fees;
6. Legal fees.

1.6.2 Recipients may not offset their own compute costs, if they themselves, or one of their subsidiaries, are a compute service provider.

2. Submitting an Application

2.1 Competitive process

2.1.1 The AI Compute Access Fund operates through a competitive Call for Proposals (CFP) process.

2.1.2 Upcoming CFPs will be announced on the program's official website. Interested applicants must submit a Statement of Interest (SOI) either prior to the opening of, or during, a CFP intake period. Submitting an SOI initiates an eligibility assessment, and if submitted prior to a CFP, will notify applicants about upcoming intake periods.

2.1.3 During the CFP period, only those applicants that have been deemed eligible through the SOI process (as outlined in Section 2.3) will be invited to submit a full application. Please note that passing the SOI process does not guarantee applicants will be selected during the full application process.

2.1.4 We recommend that applicants submit their SOI at least 7 business days before the CFP closing date in order to ensure sufficient time for SOI review and, if deemed eligible, for the applicant to complete and submit a full application. Our standard SOI review period ranges from 2-5 business days and it remains the applicant's responsibility to ensure their full application is submitted before the CFP deadline. Neither SOIs nor full applications can be submitted once the CFP period has ended.

2.2 Step 1: Sign up, create an account and verify your identify

2.2.1 Applicants will be required to create a 'my Canada Business Account' and verify their identity to access the AI Compute Access Fund online portal.

2.3 Step 2: Submit your statement of interest (SOI)

2.3.1 Interested applicants are required to submit an SOI in order to confirm basic eligibility and that their AI innovation(s) is(are) aligned with the program objectives, as described in section 1.1.

2.3.2 The SOI can be accessed through the AI Compute Access Fund online portal. In the SOI, applicants will be asked to provide:

• Business information (such as legal name, operating name, business number, business type, head office address, industry sector and sub-sector);
• Confirmation that they meet the eligibility criteria (as described in section 1.2);
• A high-level overview of your proposal and how it is aligned with the Program objectives (as described is section 1.1)
• The targeted industry sector;
• estimated annual compute cost;
• summary of proposal; and
• Contact information of the business representative

2.3.3 Applicants must meet all criteria outlined in the Statement of Interest to be eligible for the full application process.

2.3.4 Upon submission of an SOI, ISED will acknowledge receipt, review the information, and provide a response within five business days, either inviting the applicant to submit a full application in the next CFP period or notifying them that their proposal will not proceed due to ineligibility or misalignment with program objectives.

2.4 Step 3: Submit a full application

2.4.1 Applications can only be submitted during a CFP period by companies that passed the SOI stage.

2.4.2 As part of the full application, applicants must provide detailed information confirming their eligibility and outlining their project, including business background, project scope and budget, market potential, commercialization readiness, and projected benefits to Canada. This includes specifics such as compute service arrangements, team composition, funding sources, and anticipated innovation, economic, and public benefits. Detailed information about the full application and submitting a high-quality application can be found in the AI Compute Access Fund Application Guide.

2.4.3 Supplementary documentation may be requested to demonstrate how the project(s) and applicant meet the objectives of the AI Compute Access Fund.

2.4.4 Should the Program require additional information or documentation; applicants will be provided up to 5 business days to provide the information. If, after making reasonable efforts, ISED is unable to obtain the additional information they will review the application based on the available information. Responses or amendments received after this deadline may not be considered.

2.4.5 By submitting their application, the applicants confirm the following:

• That any person, including any consultant or in-house lobbyist, who lobbies on its behalf, to obtain funding under the AI Compute Access Fund, and who is required to be registered pursuant to the Lobbying Act, is registered pursuant to the Act;
• That the applicant has not, and neither has any person on its behalf, engaged or employed any person (Other than an employee) for the purposes of obtaining AI Compute Access Fund funding; and paid, or agreed to pay that person, a commission, contingency or success fee or any other consideration (whether monetary or otherwise) that is dependent upon the applicant receiving AI Compute Access Fund funding;
• That any current or former public servant, who derives benefit from the contribution agreement, will be in compliance with the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service, their respective departmental code on Values and Ethics as applicable and the Policy on conflict of interest and Post-Employment;
• That no member of the House of Commons or Senate will benefit from the contribution agreement; and
• The applicant consents to having their business subjected to a credit check as part of the program's due diligence process.

2.4.6 Applicants may only submit one application per business number.

2.4.7 Applicants must submit their application through the AI Compute Access Fund online portal. Applications submitted in an alternate format will not be accepted.

2.4.8 Although ISED may engage applicants directly on outstanding questions or issues, applicants are advised to submit a complete and thorough application. Not all applications undergoing an assessment will receive an offer of funding.

2.4.9 Any amendments or requested changes to an application must be done in writing by contacting ISED through the online portal or the AI Compute Access Fund contact form. Communication regarding such matters should be limited to a reasonable number of follow-up inquiries per applicant in order to ensure efficient processing.

2.4.10 ISED will endeavour to make funding decisions within 60-90 business days after a CFP period closes.

2.4.11 Should there be technical difficulties accessing or using the web-based system, applicants should contact the program through the AI Compute Access Fund contact form.

3. Assessment and Selection

3.1 Due diligence & benefits assessment

After a CFP period closes, ISED will conduct a due diligence assessment of all proposals based on the applicant organization's capacity and experience to implement the proposal and evaluate the project proposals on their ability to achieve the AI Compute Access Fund objectives, the viability, impact and benefits of the project to Canada. Factors being assessed include, but are not limited to:

• Market potential
• Recipient risk including organizational capacity
• Delivery risk including financial capacity
• Sufficient economic, innovation and public benefits to Canada
• Technology readiness
• Degree of alignment with departmental or Government of Canada priorities

3.1.1 Note that ISED may use external information available online about the company and/or a credit check to further assess the applicant's capacity to deliver on the stated project objectives.

3.1.2 Further, ISED may call upon external partners or experts to participate in the assessment process. Selection will also be based on available funding and that additional considerations may be applied to support prioritization of applications such as risk, benefits and feasibility.

3.1.3 Applications that do not meet eligibility criteria, do not demonstrate sufficient proposal benefits and/or capacity to achieve the stated objectives will not be considered for funding.

3.1.4 All assessments and decisions will be formally documented. Final successful and unsuccessful results will be communicated to the applicant by email. The program will not provide detailed feedback on unsuccessful applications.

3.1.5 Decisions may be subject to review, however ISED will make the final determination regarding funding recipient selection.

3.2 Recipient selection and prioritization

3.2.1 If successful applications exceed available funding, prioritization will be based on factors including, but not limited to:

• proposals with the greatest overall benefits and impact to Canada;
• technical feasibility and the applicant's capacity to achieve the stated objectives;
• alignment with program objectives as outlined in section 1.1 and/or Government of Canada priorities;
• ensuring diversity within the aggregate group of Recipients (regional diversity, sectors supported, etc.);

3.2.3 The Program may draw upon the advice of ISED advisory panels on AI to provide expert advice and guidance on prioritization criteria and outcome calibration, supporting the selection of proposals with the highest potential for impact.

3.3 Attributes of a strong proposal

3.3.1 Strong proposals should include a detailed application, enabling ISED to thoroughly review and validate the submitted information. Strong proposals can include the following:

• Comprehensive application information including objectives, goals and capacity to implement, Technology Readiness Level information, budget, key milestones, target markets, risks and a detailed commercialization plan.
• Independent market analysis covering market potential, customer demand, pricing dynamics, regulatory considerations, distribution strategies, competition, and entry barriers.
• Evidence of unmet market demand
• Clearly defined market size and opportunity
• Identification and assessment of competitors
• A detailed description of the applicant organization and its project management team, including comprehensive information on the team's domain expertise
• Credible financial statements which show the organization is self-sustainable
• Logical financial projections and capacity to complete project
• Alignment with AI Compute Access Fund's objectives (as described in section 1.1)
• Significant economic, public and innovation benefits and outcomes
• Demonstrates clear understanding of the regulatory landscape relevant to the proposal, including AI regulations in Canada and Internationally
• Evidence-based project rationale
• Well-defined IP strategy
• Explanation of productivity/efficiency savings
• Plans for business growth and expansion
• A letter of support from a referral partner

3.4 Intellectual Property obligations

3.4.1 ISED makes no claim to ownership of intellectual property resulting from activities funded.

3.4.2 In your application to the AI Compute Access Fund, applicants are required to submit an intellectual property strategy that shows that they will take appropriate steps to protect the intellectual property resulting directly or indirectly from the Eligible Activities supported by the AI Compute Access Fund and ensure that the intellectual property benefits resulting from the contributions adequately accrue to Canada and Canadians. 

4. Signing a contribution agreement

4.1 Accepting the terms and conditions

4.1.1 If an applicant's proposal is selected for funding, they will receive from ISED program officials, a Contribution Agreement containing the terms and conditions related to the funding. Applicants will have 30 business days to review and accept the funding offer. If the terms are not accepted within this timeframe, ISED reserves the right to withdraw the offer and may reallocate the funding to another eligible recipient.

4.1.2 Once an offer is extended, applicants will not be able to revise their proposal or negotiate the terms by adding new benefits or project details. Funding decisions are considered final and are not subject to further modification.

4.1.3 The Contribution Agreement outlines the:

• reporting requirements
• schedule of repayments
• proposed benefits to Canadians
• funding terms and conditions
• consequences of the agreement terms not being met
• obligations of both the recipient and the Government of Canada

5. Managing a project funded by ISED

5.1 Reporting requirements

5.1.1 Reporting requirements of recipients will include financial, progress and performance reports of which the required frequency will be stipulated in the recipient's contribution agreement.

5.1.2 All recipients will be required to submit an annual report detailing use of funds and technical progress towards project goals outlined in the Contribution Agreement.

5.1.3 All claims must be reported and submitted in accordance with the timelines outlined in the Contribution Agreement. Failure to meet these reporting requirements may result in the denial of funding.

5.1.4 Financial statements will either be audited by a third party or at a minimum signed and prepared by a Chartered professional accountants (CPA) and/or the recipient's Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

5.2 Submitting claims for reimbursement

5.2.1 ISED will endeavour to review claims within 30 business days of receiving them and reimbursements will be approved once a claim has been verified by a program officer.

5.2.2 Claims for reimbursement must be checked by the recipients for completeness to ensure all required documents and information are included and in an acceptable format.

5.2.3 Claims submitted without all required documentation or information will be considered incomplete and will not be processed until all deficiencies are resolved. The following applies:

• The claimant will be notified in writing of the missing or incorrect elements.
• The claim will be placed on hold until a complete and accurate submission is received.

5.2.4 Recipients must respect the funding allocations per year as specified in the Contribution Agreement.

5.2.5 Claims can be submitted and will be reviewed up to 4 times per year on a quarterly basis or at a frequency as specified in the Contribution Agreement.

5.2.6 Funding schedules operate based on the Government of Canada's fiscal year which begins on April 1 and ends on March 31 in the following calendar year.

6. Resources & Contact information

6.1 Resources

• Application Guide
• My Canada Business Account
• AI Compute Access Fund Website
• Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy

6.2 Contact information

Please contact us through the online portal or the AI Compute Access Fund contact form.