AI Compute Access Fund

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.

• 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.