Canada: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada opened call for applications under the Artificial Intelligence Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program

On 15 April 2026, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) opened a call for applications under the Artificial Intelligence Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program (SCIP). The Programme is structured into an Infrastructure Build Layer and a National Service Layer. The call covers the Infrastructure Build Layer only, which encompasses systems administration, hardware operations, and data centre operations. The Programme targets not-for-profit organisations incorporated in Canada, post-secondary institutions incorporated in Canada, and consortia led by such organisations. SCIP aims to increase AI-relevant compute capacity available to Canadian researchers and industrial research and development through the construction of AI supercomputing infrastructure, with funding of up to CAD 890 million over seven fiscal years beginning in 2026–27. Applicants must demonstrate sovereignty requirements, including Canadian data residency, Canadian ownership or contractual control of core compute and storage infrastructure, Canadian decision-making authority over access and use, and supply chain resilience through the prioritisation of Canadian vendors. ISED will accept applications until 1 June 2026.