No paid figure stated in the government’s documents
No spending under Budget 2024’s $2 billion compute strategy appears in the Public Accounts for 2024–25 or ISED’s 2024–25 results tables, and the 2025–26 editions were not out on 2 November 2026; the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy’s compute line carries ISED’s actual spending of $24,932,148 to 31 March 2025 against its $39 million.
Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy and AI Compute Access Fund (Budget 2024, $2 billion over five years)
A part of the programme. Budget 2024’s $2 billion is the budget instrument behind the compute strategy the record names; ISED split it into the AI Compute Challenge (up to $700M), the AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program (up to $705M), up to $200M for existing public compute and the AI Compute Access Fund (up to $300M). It is a component because the record also covers the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy (its compute line is the second line here), Budget 2025’s $925.6M (of which $800M was previously provisioned, so it overlaps this allocation by an amount no document read states) and AI for All’s $700M Compute Access Fund expansion. No spending has been published: the Public Accounts for 2024–25 and ISED’s 2024–25 transfer-payment tables carry no line for the strategy’s programmes, and the 2025–26 Public Accounts and Departmental Results Report were not published by 2 November 2026. Budget kind is ‘allocated’: a budget-plan allocation whose money Parliament votes through the Estimates.
In a budget estimate: the 2 billion CAD Budget 2024 allocation for the AI Compute Access Fund and Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, April 2024 to March 2029. Printed as “$2 billion”. About $1.4B at the reference rate of 16 Apr 2024. $2 billion over five years, starting in 2024-25, to launch a new AI Compute Access Fund and Canadian AI Sovereign Compute Strategy
Department of Finance Canada, Budget 2024: Fairness for Every Generation, Chapter 4 ‘Economic Growth for Every Generation’, Chapter 4, section ‘Strengthening Canada’s AI Advantage’, first bullet, 16 Apr 2024
Announced: 700 million CAD, 20 Mar 2025. Printed as “Up to $700 million”. ISED’s split of the Budget 2024 envelope: AI Compute Challenge component. An allocation, not spending. Up to $700 million through the AI Compute Challenge to support projects from industry, academia and the private sector to build Canadian AI data centres.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED news release, ‘Government of Canada finalizes investment to support Canadian-born AI leader, Cohere’, 20 March 2025, Release body, list of the strategy’s investments
Announced: 705 million CAD, 20 Mar 2025. Printed as “Up to $705 million”. AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program component (public supercomputer). The program guide makes any agreement contingent on appropriations; applications closed 1 June 2026 (ISED strategy page, ca/dl-06). Not spending. Up to $705 million through the AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program to build a state-of-the-art Canadian-owned and -located high-performance supercomputing system
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED news release, ‘Government of Canada finalizes investment to support Canadian-born AI leader, Cohere’, 20 March 2025, Release body, list of the strategy’s investments
Announced: 200 million CAD, 20 Mar 2025. Printed as “up to $200 million”. Near-term component to augment existing public compute (delivered through the Digital Research Alliance of Canada; see the contribution agreement below). Not spending. In the near term, up to $200 million will be provided to augment existing public compute infrastructure to address immediate needs.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED news release, ‘Government of Canada finalizes investment to support Canadian-born AI leader, Cohere’, 20 March 2025, Release body, list of the strategy’s investments
Announced: 300 million CAD, 20 Mar 2025. Printed as “Up to $300 million”. AI Compute Access Fund component (subsidies for SMEs’ compute purchases). Not spending. Up to $300 million through the AI Compute Access Fund to support the purchase of AI compute resources by innovative Canadian SMEs.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED news release, ‘Government of Canada finalizes investment to support Canadian-born AI leader, Cohere’, 20 March 2025, Release body, list of the strategy’s investments
Committed: 240 million CAD, 20 Mar 2025. Printed as “up to $240 million”. Contribution finalized for Cohere’s $725 million compute project (funded through the Strategic Innovation Fund, now the Strategic Response Fund, per the ISED environmental statement, ca/dl-08); a commitment, not spending. announced that the Government of Canada has finalized its investment of up to $240 million in Cohere Inc. ’s $725 million project to bring domestic compute capacity to Canada
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED news release, ‘Government of Canada finalizes investment to support Canadian-born AI leader, Cohere’, 20 March 2025, Release, first paragraph
Committed: 83.6 million CAD, 1 Apr 2025. Printed as “$83,558,934.00”. Contribution agreement under the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy with the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (agreement 515544, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028, reported in ISED’s 2024–25 Q4 grants disclosure); an agreement value, not spending. Agreement Value: $83,558,934.00 Agreement Date: Apr 1, 2025 - Mar 31, 2028
Government of Canada (Open Government Portal), reported by ISED, Government of Canada proactive disclosure of grants and contributions, ISED agreement 515544 (Digital Research Alliance of Canada), Record fields Agreement Value, Agreement Date, Program; the publication date given is the agreement's start date (the record shows no publication date), 1 Apr 2025
Announced: 926 million CAD, 4 Nov 2025. Printed as “$925.6 million”. Budget 2025 proposal for a large-scale sovereign public AI infrastructure over five years from 2025–26; $800 million of it is sourced from funds previously provisioned in the fiscal framework, which the budget does not tie to the Budget 2024 allocation explicitly (overlap unverified). Not spending. Budget 2025 proposes to provide $925.6 million over five years, starting in 2025-26, to support a large-scale sovereign public AI infrastructure […] Of this amount, $800 million will be sourced from funds previously provisioned in the fiscal framework.
Department of Finance Canada, Budget 2025: Canada Strong, Chapter 1, Chapter 1, AI infrastructure section; the publication date given is the page’s ‘Date modified’, 4 Nov 2025
Announced: 700 million CAD, 8 Jun 2026. Printed as “$700 million”. AI for All (June 2026) expansion of the Compute Access Fund; no period stated on the page. Not spending. Canada will provide Canadian SMEs with an additional $700 million in affordable sovereign compute through an expansion of the Compute Access Fund.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED, Canada’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy: AI for All, Pillar on sovereign compute, ‘Key actions’; the publication date given is the page’s ‘Date modified’, 8 Jun 2026
Dedicated Computing Capacity in Artificial Intelligence (Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, Budget 2021), contribution to the Digital Research Alliance of Canada
A part of the programme. The Pan-Canadian AI Strategy’s compute line: $39 million announced in Budget 2021, paid as a contribution to the Digital Research Alliance of Canada for three AI compute systems at Laval, Alberta and Toronto (the PAICE clusters). The transfer-payment program runs from 28 September 2022 to 31 March 2027, the period used for the budget. Paid is ISED’s actual spending on the program summed over 2022–23, 2023–24 and 2024–25 as its 2024–25 Departmental Results Report tables print them; the Public Accounts 2024–25 (Vol. II, Section 18) give the same 2024–25 expenditure (22,004,327). The contribution is a payment to the Alliance, which reports its own spending only through the host sites; no later-stage spending of the same money is published, so ISED’s outturn is the paid figure. Budget kind ‘allocated’: Budget 2021’s amount, appropriated annually through the Estimates.
In a budget estimate: the 39 million CAD Budget 2021 allocation for dedicated AI computing capacity, September 2022 to March 2027. Printed as “$39 million”. About $28M at the reference rate of 7 Nov 2025. Dedicated Computing Capacity in Artificial Intelligence Start date September 28, 2022 End date March 31, 2027 […] ISED will provide $39 million in funding announced in Budget 2021 to provide dedicated computing capacity for Artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers as part of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED, Supplementary information tables, 2024–25 Departmental Results Report: Details on transfer payment programs, Details on transfer payment programs, ‘Dedicated Computing Capacity in Artificial Intelligence’, purpose and dates; the budget is dated to the tables’ publication (Budget 2021 set the amount), 7 Nov 2025
Spent: 24.9 million CAD by 31 Mar 2025. Actual spending 2022–23 + 2023–24 + 2024–25 from the program’s financial-information table. 30 of the budget’s 54 months had passed. About $17M at the reference rate of 31 Mar 2025. Dedicated Computing Capacity in Artificial Intelligence Start date September 28, 2022 […] Financial information (dollars) Type of transfer payment 2022‑23 actual spending 2023‑24 actual spending 2024‑25 planned spending 2024‑25 total authorities available for use 2024‑25 actual spending (authorities used) […] Total contributions 618,628 2,309,193 7,454,180 22,004,328 22,004,327 14,550,147
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED, Supplementary information tables, 2024–25 Departmental Results Report: Details on transfer payment programs, Details on transfer payment programs, ‘Dedicated Computing Capacity in Artificial Intelligence’, Financial information table, row Total contributions, 7 Nov 2025
Spent: 618,628 CAD, 31 Mar 2023. Printed as “618,628”. 2022–23 actual spending. Dedicated Computing Capacity in Artificial Intelligence Start date September 28, 2022 […] Financial information (dollars) Type of transfer payment 2022‑23 actual spending 2023‑24 actual spending 2024‑25 planned spending 2024‑25 total authorities available for use 2024‑25 actual spending (authorities used) […] Total contributions 618,628 2,309,193 7,454,180 22,004,328 22,004,327 14,550,147
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED, Supplementary information tables, 2024–25 Departmental Results Report: Details on transfer payment programs, Financial information table, column 2022–23 actual spending, 7 Nov 2025
Spent: 2.31 million CAD, 31 Mar 2024. Printed as “2,309,193”. 2023–24 actual spending. Dedicated Computing Capacity in Artificial Intelligence Start date September 28, 2022 […] Financial information (dollars) Type of transfer payment 2022‑23 actual spending 2023‑24 actual spending 2024‑25 planned spending 2024‑25 total authorities available for use 2024‑25 actual spending (authorities used) […] Total contributions 618,628 2,309,193 7,454,180 22,004,328 22,004,327 14,550,147
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED, Supplementary information tables, 2024–25 Departmental Results Report: Details on transfer payment programs, Financial information table, column 2023–24 actual spending, 7 Nov 2025
Spent: 22 million CAD, 31 Mar 2025. Printed as “22,004,327”. 2024–25 actual spending (authorities used), against 7,454,180 planned and 22,004,328 of total authorities; the Public Accounts 2024–25 Vol. II, Section 18 (PDF page 349) print the same 22,004,327 expended under ‘Contributions for dedicated computing capacity in Artificial Intelligence’. Dedicated Computing Capacity in Artificial Intelligence Start date September 28, 2022 […] Financial information (dollars) Type of transfer payment 2022‑23 actual spending 2023‑24 actual spending 2024‑25 planned spending 2024‑25 total authorities available for use 2024‑25 actual spending (authorities used) […] Total contributions 618,628 2,309,193 7,454,180 22,004,328 22,004,327 14,550,147
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED, Supplementary information tables, 2024–25 Departmental Results Report: Details on transfer payment programs, Financial information table, column 2024–25 actual spending (authorities used), 7 Nov 2025
Searched, 5 places
Public Accounts of Canada (Receiver General), Volume II, Section 18 Innovation, Science and Industry: Public Accounts of Canada 2025 (fiscal year 2024–25), Vol. II, ISED transfer payments (PDF pp. 349–350); the canada.ca index listed 2025 as the latest edition on 2 November 2026. Lines for CIFAR–Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, National AI Institutes, CIFAR–Canadian AI Safety Institute and ‘Contributions for dedicated computing capacity in Artificial Intelligence’ (22,004,327 expended); no line for the AI Compute Access Fund, the AI Compute Challenge or the AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program. Public Accounts of Canada (Receiver General), Volume II, Section 18 Innovation, Science and Industry, 2 Nov 2026
ISED Departmental Results Reports and supplementary information tables: 2024–25 Departmental Results Report and its supplementary tables (Details on transfer payment programs; page modified 7 November 2025); the 2025–26 report was not listed on 2 November 2026. Narrative only for the compute strategy (‘launched initial work’; AI Compute Challenge launched December 2024); no transfer-payment program table for it. Table for Dedicated Computing Capacity in AI with actuals 618,628 (2022–23), 2,309,193 (2023–24), 22,004,327 (2024–25). ISED Departmental Results Reports and supplementary information tables, 2 Nov 2026
Budgets and ISED strategy pages: Budget 2024 ch. 4 (16 April 2024); Budget 2025 ch. 1 (4 November 2025); ISED Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy page (modified 4 June 2026); AI for All (8 June 2026); ISED release on Cohere (20 March 2025); ISED strategic environmental assessment statement on the Cohere compute project (June 2026). Allocations and commitments only ($2 billion; component envelopes; $925.6 million; $700 million AI for All expansion; up to $240 million for Cohere); no spending. Budgets and ISED strategy pages, 2 Nov 2026
Open Government Portal, proactive disclosure of grants and contributions (ISED): Agreement 515544 under program ‘Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy’ (2024–25 Q4 report). Agreement value $83,558,934.00 with the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028; an agreement value, not payments. Other agreements under the program were not enumerated. Open Government Portal, proactive disclosure of grants and contributions (ISED), 2 Nov 2026
House of Commons Order Paper questions, GC InfoBase, ISED quarterly financial reports: Web search for Order Paper answers on the Sovereign AI Compute Strategy’s spending (2025–2026); GC InfoBase (JavaScript application, not read); ISED quarterly financial reports index (returned HTTP 404). No Order Paper answer with spending located (ourcommons.ca was not searched record by record); GC InfoBase and the quarterly reports were not read. House of Commons Order Paper questions, GC InfoBase, ISED quarterly financial reports, 2 Nov 2026
Still open
Spending under the compute strategy’s programmes in 2025–26 (Cohere contribution, Alliance agreement, Compute Access Fund awards) will first appear in the Public Accounts 2026 and ISED’s 2025–26 Departmental Results Report; neither was published on 2 November 2026.
Whether Budget 2025’s $800 million ‘previously provisioned’ is part of Budget 2024’s $2 billion is not stated in either budget (unverified).
Order Paper answers on the strategy’s spending were not searched record by record on ourcommons.ca; GC InfoBase and ISED’s quarterly financial reports were not read.
The Pan-Canadian AI Strategy’s other lines (CIFAR, National AI Institutes) have annual actuals in the same tables but were not built into lines because they fund talent and research rather than compute.
Open Sovereign AI funding