For many Canadian businesses, the biggest hurdle to AI innovation isn’t a lack of ideas — it’s access to computing power that’s needed to bring those ideas to life.
To address this challenge, the federal government is launching a fund to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) tap into the high-powered infrastructure required to develop Canadian-made AI-driven products and services.
The AI Compute Access Fund, announced by François-Philippe Champagne, former minister of innovation, science and industry, will provide up to $300 million to help Canadian businesses offset the cost of compute resources — the processing power behind AI models.
“AI has the potential to be transformative across sectors, yet we know that the cost of compute and other barriers obstruct small- and medium-sized enterprises from developing the next generation of AI products,” Champagne said in a statement.
“As such, our government is proud to announce the AI Compute Access Fund, which will spur innovation and enable SMEs to compete on a more level playing field with larger companies. We are positioning Canada at the forefront of the AI revolution.”
Why compute power matters
At the heart of AI development is compute — the infrastructure of data centres, chips, and cloud services that power everything from large language models to predictive analytics. It’s the unseen engine behind tools like voice assistants, medical imaging AI, and even recommendation algorithms that suggest what to watch next.
For many smaller companies, access to this level of computing is prohibitively expensive, limiting their ability to scale AI solutions. The new fund aims to lower that barrier, enabling Canadian SMEs to compete in industries where AI adoption is growing rapidly, including healthcare, energy, and advanced manufacturing.
The initiative is part of the broader Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, a $2 billion federal investment designed to strengthen Canada’s AI ecosystem. Beyond funding, the strategy also seeks to attract global investment, develop top-tier AI talent, and reinforce Canada’s standing as a global AI hub.
Investing in AI infrastructure
The AI Compute Access Fund is one piece of a larger government effort to expand AI infrastructure. The broader funding package includes:
- $700 million to support AI data centre projects from industry and academia, and the private sector.
- $705 million for a new, Canadian-owned AI supercomputing system through the AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program.
- $200 million to expand existing public compute infrastructure to address immediate needs.
- $300 million for the AI Compute Access Fund to support SME access to compute resources.
Beyond just plugging gaps today, these investments are about making sure Canadian businesses don’t fall behind tomorrow. By expanding access to critical AI infrastructure, the government aims to equip companies with the tools they need to stay competitive in an increasingly AI-driven world.
Canada’s AI momentum
Canada’s AI sector has seen rapid growth in recent years. Key indicators include:
- 140,000 AI professionals active in Canada in 2022–23, a 29% increase over the previous year.
- Canada is home to 10% of the world’s top-tier AI researchers, the second-highest number globally.
- Canada ranks top, globally, for year-over-year growth of women in AI (67% growth in 2022-23).
- The number of AI patents filed by Canadian inventors grew by 57% in 2022–23, outpacing the G7 average of 23%.
- Canada’s AI sector attracted $8.6 billion in venture capital investment in 2022, representing nearly 30% of all venture capital activity in the country.
While these numbers highlight Canada’s growing AI ecosystem, they also underscore the need for continued investment in infrastructure to sustain this momentum.
What’s next?
The AI Compute Access Fund follows last week’s call for statements of interest for the AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program (SCIP). That program will establish a Canadian-owned, high-performance supercomputing system, serving as a backbone for national AI infrastructure. Together, these efforts are designed to reinforce Canada’s position as a leader in AI research, talent development, and industry innovation.
With demand for AI infrastructure growing worldwide, these investments signal that Canada isn’t just playing catch-up — it wants to set the pace.
Whether that goal is realized will depend on how effectively these funds translate into real-world AI advancements for Canadian businesses.
The AI Compute Access Fund will soon be accepting applications. For more information, visit here.
This article was created with the assistance of AI. Learn more about our AI ethics policy here.
