The Government of Canada has launched a national call for proposals aimed at enabling the development of large-scale sovereign AI data centres across the country.
Led by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, the initiative invites Canadian companies and consortia to submit proposals for projects that would significantly expand the nation’s artificial intelligence computing infrastructure. The intake period runs until February 15, 2026.
The federal government is seeking proposals for commercial-scale AI data centres with planned capacities exceeding 100 megawatts, designed to serve a broad range of Canadian users including researchers, startups, and enterprises. The facilities are intended to provide additional compute capacity for Canada’s rapidly growing AI ecosystem while supporting innovation across multiple sectors of the economy.
Selected proponents may enter into memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the federal government to explore potential mechanisms that could enable the construction and operation of these large-scale facilities in Canada.
The initiative forms part of Canada’s broader strategy to strengthen domestic AI infrastructure and reduce reliance on foreign compute providers. As artificial intelligence adoption accelerates globally, governments and industry groups have increasingly emphasized the need for sovereign computing capacity to support sensitive data, national research priorities, and commercial AI development.
According to ISED, proposals should demonstrate clear economic and ecosystem benefits while addressing key priorities such as Indigenous participation, energy use, environmental impact, project readiness, and the use of Canadian partners and supply chains.
The call builds on commitments outlined in Budget 2025 to expand Canada’s AI computing capacity and support the development of large-scale digital infrastructure.
As demand for AI training and inference continues to surge worldwide, the federal government says enabling domestic data centre development will be essential to ensuring Canadian organizations have access to the compute resources needed to compete in the global AI economy.