Our Vision for Sovereign AI Compute in Canada

The Government of Canada launched a Statement of Interest process for its new AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program (SCIP) on February 27, 2025.

As Canada’s national digital research infrastructure leader, we are leading a collaborative national effort to develop a robust response that meets the current and future needs of Canada’s researchers and innovators, and positions our country as a global leader in artificial intelligence.

Our Vision

Our vision is to position Canada as a global leader in AI, support and protect Canadian research and enable scientific and industrial breakthroughs.

Core Principles

The core principles of our approach are to:

Address lagging DRI investment.
Meet current and future academic, government and industry research needs.
Consolidate and integrate AI compute infrastructure with a national data platform, national Advanced Research Computing (ARC) systems and the foundational services and talent that researchers need to innovate.
Minimize fragmentation: Our current model and funding cannot adequately support the future needs of researchers. We need greater consolidation and integration.
Deliver equitable national access to researchers across Canada.
Align with global best practices.
Implement sustainable practices and technologies.
Fuel collaboration between academia, government and industry, across the country.

Proposed Approach

Our proposed approach has five key pillars:

Create Canada’s first AI Factory to integrate AI Compute & ARC systems
Build a National Data Platform & Unified AI Foundational Infrastructure for interoperability across national systems
Introduce an AI Infrastructure Testbed & Integrated Marketplace to accelerate AI-enabled industry innovation
Prioritize AI workforce development, training and researcher upskilling
Attract investment to boost economic security

National Engagement

Help shape the future of AI in Canada

We’re collaborating with our not-for-profit, industry and academic partners to make the case for public infrastructure for public good – strengthening and scaling Canada's national AI infrastructure to benefit our economy, society and sovereignty.

Here are the open and upcoming opportunities for input.

Virtual Town Hall

August 7, 2025 | 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. EDT
Slides from this event will be published soon

Regional Roundtables

We’re bringing academic, government and industry leaders together in-person from coast to coast in collaboration with our regional partners this August and September.

August – Halifax, Kingston
September – Calgary, Vancouver, Montréal, Toronto

Exact dates forthcoming

Phase 1 Engagement (March – May 2024)

We led a national engagement process from March to May 2025, to build a collaborative Statement of Interest for ISED’s AI SCIP. Here are the highlights:

Over 1,000 academic, industry and government leaders participated
in 4 virtual town halls and 20+ executive briefings.
Open Call for Input: We held an open Call-for-Input from March 11 to April 23 to seek proposed solutions, partnership opportunities and expressions of interest from the community.
1:1 engagement with major public/private proponents submitting an SOI.
Briefings with ISED leadership in Canada and in Germany.
National coordination among SOI submissions (public and private sector).