How much funding can be received?

Funds up to 67% of admissible expenses, capped at $3350000 per project.

What is the deadline to apply?

The deadline to apply is 2025-07-31T23:59:59Z.

Who are the financial supporters of the AI Compute Access Fund?

AI Compute Access Fund is funded by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)

What are AI Compute Access Fund's eligibility criterias?

Canadian-registered, for-profit company or consortium (corporation or LLP) with less than 500 FTE employees Developing AI products or services with R&D teams based in Canada Revenue-generating and/or able to demonstrate investor interest through minimum Series A financing

AI Compute Access Fund

Last Update: June 25, 2025

Canada

Supports Canadian SMEs in accessing advanced AI compute resources

AI Compute Access Fund at a glance

Eligible Funding

From $67,000 to $3,350,000
Up to 67% of project cost

Timeline

Open Date : June 25, 2025
Closing date : July 31, 2025

Financing Type

Grant and Funding

Eligible Industries

All industries

Grant Providers

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)

Status

Open

Overview of the AI Compute Access Fund program

The AI Compute Access Fund provides up to $5 million in funding to Canadian SMEs to support the development, training, and operation of artificial intelligence models. The program aims to accelerate AI innovation by covering costs associated with cloud-based compute services for eligible research and commercialization activities.

Financing terms and conditions

Eligible project costs must range between $100,000 and $5,000,000, for projects lasting up to three years.
Funding covers up to two-thirds (2:1) of costs for Canadian, cloud-based compute services, and up to half (1:1) of costs for non-Canadian compute services until March 31, 2027.
Effective April 1, 2027, only costs from Canadian compute providers are eligible for support.
Total funding from all government sources must not exceed 100% of eligible project costs.

Eligible projects & activities

Development, training, or operation of AI models using cloud-based compute services.
Training AI models to prepare them for commercial launch.
Using cloud-based services to provide inference for AI products or services.
Modifying, improving, or fine-tuning existing AI models through cloud-based computing.

Examples of admissible projects:

$ 3,495,000

Fine-tuning large language models for Francophone legal document review

$ 1,245,000

Enhancing AI support for real-time digital mental health triage

$ 2,597,000

Training AI models for personalized agricultural crop yield prediction

$ 3,150,000

Implementing cloud AI for demand-based energy management optimization

$ 1,790,000

Deploying cloud-based AI for autonomous retail inventory management

$ 4,300,000

Scaling up cloud compute for real-time medical image analysis AI

Eligibility criteria of the AI Compute Access Fund program

The applicant must be an active Canadian-registered for-profit company developing AI products or services, or a consortium led by such an entity.
The applicant must be a registered corporation or limited liability partnership (LLP) with fewer than 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.
The company must have R&D teams based in Canada and be willing to execute project activities within Canada.
The company must be revenue-generating and/or demonstrate investor interest by having secured at least Series A financing.
The applicant must have contracts, invoices, or evidence of ongoing arrangements for compute services at the time of application.

Who is eligible?

Canadian-registered for-profit companies developing AI products or services
Consortiums of organizations with a Canadian corporation or LLP as the project lead applicant
Indigenous-owned for-profit businesses (including sole proprietorships, partnerships, cooperatives, micro-enterprises, or other unincorporated entities) that are at least 51% Indigenous-owned and controlled

Who is not eligible

Companies or subsidiaries that are themselves AI compute service providers cannot offset their own compute costs through this program.
Businesses using compute service providers headquartered in, or operating from, countries or jurisdictions under Canadian sanctions, or with national security concerns or regulatory restrictions, are not eligible for funding for those expenditures.

Eligible expenses

Payments for service contracts with AI compute service providers (domestic or eligible foreign providers) for compute-related activities.
Core compute expenses.
Storage costs related to AI compute.
Compute-specific licensing fees.
AI/ML processing costs.
Operational monitoring expenses specific to compute services.
Compute-specific security requirement expenses.

Eligible geographic areas

Companies registered and operating in Canada.

Eligibility criteria of the AI Compute Access Fund program

Market potential of the proposed project.
Management capacity and resources of the organization to carry out the project.
Financial capacity to complete the project.
Technological maturity of the solution presented.
Economic, innovation, and public interest benefits for Canada.

How to apply to the AI Compute Access Fund program

Review eligibility and program details

Review the eligibility criteria for the AI Compute Access Fund
Gather information on program objectives, eligible activities, and financial support

Create account and verify identity

Create a 'my Canada Business Account' via the AI Compute Access Fund online portal
Verify your identity to access the portal

Submit Statement of Interest

Submit a Statement of Interest (SOI) through the online portal
Provide business information, eligibility confirmation, and a high-level project overview
Receive confirmation of eligibility from ISED within 5 business days

Submit full application

Receive invitation to submit a full application if SOI is approved
Prepare and submit a detailed application with project, financial, and organizational details
Upload any requested supporting documentation

Application under review

Wait for application assessment and review by ISED
Possible supplementary information requests with a 5 business day response window

Accept Contribution Agreement

If selected, receive a Contribution Agreement from ISED
Review terms and conditions and accept the offer within 30 business days

Additional information

Applicants may only submit one application per business number.
Decisions regarding funding recipient selection are final and may be subject to review, but ISED makes the final determination.
Non-repayable, conditionally repayable, or repayable contributions may be offered, depending on the project's benefits and risk profile.
Reporting requirements will include both financial and technical progress updates, as set out in the Contribution Agreement.