Consultation:

Budget 2024 announced $2.0 billion over five years, to launch new initiatives that will provide Canadian researchers and AI companies with the tools needed to be competitive in a rapidly advancing global landscape.

• A Canadian AI Sovereign Compute Strategy to invest in sovereign AI infrastructure that responds to both medium and long-term needs of governments, researchers, and industry.
• A new AI Compute Access Fund that will provide direct support to Canadian AI researchers, start-ups and scale-ups to access the compute they need.

The Government of Canada has established a set of guiding principles for the development of the AI Compute Access Fund and the AI Sovereign Compute Strategy as outlined in the consultation document, that include:

• Identifying near-term investment opportunities, acknowledging the immediate needs for increased compute access;
• Establishing a base of world-class domestic Sovereign AI compute infrastructure that attracts new investments and serves as a longer-term foundation for research and innovation, commercialization, productivity and economic growth;
• Developing a multi-faceted approach that ensures increased access to compute throughout the Canadian ecosystem, supporting companies, institutions, as well as researchers who are both developing and adopting AI;
• Employing collaborative approaches that encourage international cooperation;
• Leveraging the contributions of the private sector and other levels of government to multiply impact.

These consultations are intended to seek feedback from relevant stakeholders to help identify models for implementation of a Canadian AI Sovereign Compute Strategy and an AI Compute Access Fund that will meet the needs of the Canadian AI ecosystem and align with these established principles.
 
Consultation Survey

This voluntary survey invites AI stakeholders, as well as other levels of government, international partners,  and Indigenous communities, and interested Canadians to share their insights on the two initiatives and the potential approaches for their implementation. Your input will be used to help shape the Government’s approach to the new AI Compute Access Fund and the Canadian AI Sovereign Compute Strategy.

All questions are optional allowing you to focus on areas of interest or expertise. Your responses will be kept private in accordance with laws designed to protect your privacy, including the Privacy Act.

The consultation period will be open for feedback from June 26, 2024 to September 6, 2024.

We thank you in advance for your important contribution. If you encounter any difficulties with the consultation survey or require accommodation, please contact aicompute-calculia@ised-isde.gc.ca.