Data centres are the infrastructure that powers Canada's digital future. They provide the computing, storage, networking and security capabilities that Canadians rely on every day, whether it's in cloud computing, government services, scientific research or the storage and protection of critical Canadian data, including health information.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing demand for data centre capacity. The computing power needed to train, test and run advanced AI systems is also helping businesses innovate, improve productivity, accelerate research and enable better services for Canadians.
The Government of Canada is working to support the development of this infrastructure responsibly and transparently, while strengthening Canada's economic and digital sovereignty.
Building Canadian sovereign AI infrastructure
Building data centre capacity in Canada can help strengthen Canada's digital and economic sovereignty while giving researchers, businesses and public institutions greater access to the infrastructure they need to develop and adopt AI. It can also help ensure critical computing capabilities and data remain in Canada.
Canada's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy: AI for All identifies sovereign AI infrastructure as a key foundation for Canada's future growth and competitiveness. As part of Pillar 4, Building the Canadian sovereign AI foundation, Canada is investing in the infrastructure needed to support AI innovation and adoption across the country.
Supporting Canada's AI infrastructure
Enabling large-scale sovereign AI data centres
The Government of Canada is working with industry to support the development of sovereign, large-scale AI data centres that can provide the compute capacity needed to power the next generation of Canadian innovation.
Learn more about enabling large-scale sovereign AI data centres.
AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program
The AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program, a key initiative under the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, is supporting the development of a large-scale, Canadian-owned AI supercomputing system that will provide researchers and innovators with access to advanced compute capacity.
Learn more about the AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program.
A commitment to building data centres responsibly
Building and operating data centres involves important considerations, including energy use, environmental sustainability, cybersecurity, economic development, and collaboration with Indigenous communities and local partners. As demand continues to increase, governments, industry, academia and communities are working together to ensure data centre development supports Canada's long-term economic goals.
Learn more about Canada's responsible data centre development principles.