Between funding cycles
Last cycle closed Jul 31, 2025. The next deadline hasn't been announced yet.
AI Compute Access Fund
Covers part of the cost of cloud computing for Canadian small and medium businesses building or scaling AI.
About this program
The AI Compute Access Fund helps Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises buy the computing power they need to develop and scale artificial intelligence. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada covers two thirds of eligible costs for Canadian cloud-based compute services, and half of eligible costs for non-Canadian services, for compute used up to March 31, 2027. Proposals cover compute costs between $100,000 and $5,000,000, with projects running as late as March 31, 2028. The fund is $300 million in total; 44 projects worth about $66 million had been announced by May 2026. The most recent call for proposals closed on July 31, 2025 and no new intake is open — the program page offers an email list for updates on future calls.
Eligibility
Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises that need large-scale computing capacity for artificial intelligence work. Compute costs must fall between $100,000 and $5,000,000.
Requirements
- Submit a proposal during an open call
- Compute costs between $100,000 and $5,000,000
- Eligible compute used by March 31, 2027; projects may run to March 31, 2028