Canada Announces $66 Million in AI Compute Funding for British Columbia

Canada's first Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation announced funding for 44 projects in British Columbia as part of an effort to expand domestic compute capacity. The projects will receive up to $66 million through the Compute Access Fund, a $300-million program launched in July that the minister said is wildly oversubscribed.

The fund subsidizes 50 cents on the dollar for compute access, rising to 67 cents when that compute is provided by Canadian facilities. The goal is to support Canadian data centers serving Canadian companies and citizens along with other global customers.

Evan Solomon delivered the announcement at a press conference Tuesday morning at the Web Summit in Vancouver. "Sovereignty is not solitude," Solomon said. "We are going to do business with the United States. The day before the British Columbia announcement, Solomon visited Canadian telecommunications company Telus headquarters to sign a memorandum of understanding for three new AI-focused data center sites in the province.

Those sites are designed with sustainability features including closed-loop water systems using waste rainwater from BC Place stadium and heat reuse to warm homes. Solomon said the approach would not increase electricity rates for residents. He added that the government should address citizens' concerns about AI infrastructure.

"We should be very open to real citizens’ concerns," Solomon said. "Technology moves at the speed of innovation and citizens move at the speed of trust. He said the University of Waterloo graduates more engineers than Stanford and that Canada's last budget included $1.7 billion for a talent attraction program targeting 1,000 top AI researchers and their labs, the largest such program in the G7.

On energy, Solomon noted Canada has the largest clean energy grid with significant unused potential. He cited Hydro Ottawa's use of AI to manage its grid more efficiently. "The best new energy is the energy that we’re not already using," Solomon said.

The minister acknowledged challenges in capital access for Canadian companies. He said the government is working to improve access from seed funding through later stages. Canada has also formed a sovereign technology alliance with Germany to create alternatives to dominant hyperscalers.

Canada has invested more than $250 million in the AI company Cohere and the federal government purchased 1,400 licenses for internal use. Solomon said the government aims to support domestic champions on the demand side. Cohere’s Chief AI Officer Joelle Pineau appeared with Solomon at the Web Summit opening night.

The company reported $240 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025 and is backed by Nvidia, AMD and Salesforce. Cohere recently announced an acquisition of German AI firm Aleph Alpha that values the combined entity at roughly $20 billion. Solomon said only four countries have foundation models: the United States, China, France with Mistral, and Canada with Cohere.

The minister described the overall approach as pragmatic. "We're team pragmatic. That's the Carney government," Solomon said.