Investment will boost domestic compute capacity to strengthen the Canadian AI ecosystem
OTTAWA, ON, March 20, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, 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 and support the development and scaling of AI capabilities here at home.
This federal investment will incentivize new cutting-edge AI compute infrastructure with the development of a new multi-billion-dollar AI data centre, located in Canada, that will come online this year. This will enable Cohere to accelerate the commercialization of its large language models at a new domestic data centre, driving growth and allowing Cohere to compete for global market share against other well-funded international competitors. Access to additional domestic compute capacity will support the expansion of other Canadian firms developing AI technologies in this rapidly growing sector.
Cohere is the first funding recipient of the AI Compute Challenge, announced in December 2024 under the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy. The AI Compute Challenge supports the Canadian AI ecosystem through increased domestic AI compute capacity. Access to cutting-edge compute infrastructure, we are maintaining Canada's leadership in AI, empowering researchers and industries to thrive.
Quotes
"Artificial intelligence is reshaping our world, and Canada is leading the way. Canadian AI leaders like Cohere drive rapid growth in our domestic AI industry, fuel economic expansion and boost productivity. We are proud to make strategic investments to support Canadian innovators, build capacity here at home and boost our economy."
– The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
"Canada has long been a global leader in supporting AI, and this is a major step to ensure it maintains that position. Cohere is pleased to actively participate in this project that will help support Canadian technology development, and also help address data sovereignty needs, particularly for companies in highly regulated industries."
– Aidan Gomez, Co-founder and CEO, Cohere Inc.
Quick facts
- Cohere Inc. is a Canadian-founded technology company focused on AI for businesses. The company, founded in 2019, specializes in chatbots, search engines, summarization and other AI-driven products and has become a champion in the AI world.
- The Government of Canada is allocating $2 billion from Budget 2024 to the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy. The strategy will ensure that Canadian businesses, innovators and researchers have access to the compute capacity they need to develop made-in-Canada AI products and drive frontier research. This will be accomplished through a series of investments to meet short-, medium- and long-term compute needs:
- 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. There is an application process for these funds, with priority given to Canadian projects that can demonstrate a high rate of return on public investment, sustainability and other markers of success.
- 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 that will anchor national AI-specific computing infrastructure to meet the needs of Canada's world-class research and innovation ecosystem. In addition, a smaller secure computing system, to be led by Shared Services Canada and the National Research Council of Canada, will also be established for government and industry to perform research and development, including for national security purposes. In the near term, up to $200 million will be provided to augment existing public compute infrastructure to address immediate needs.
- Up to $300 million through the AI Compute Access Fund to support the purchase of AI compute resources by innovative Canadian SMEs. This will meet the near-term needs of businesses as the government encourages increased private capital to build domestic compute capacity.
- The Government of Canada is supporting the responsible development and adoption of AI across the Canadian economy through a suite of measures—including the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute and the Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Responsible Development and Management of Advanced Generative AI Systems.
Associated links
- Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy
- Artificial intelligence ecosystem
- AI Compute Challenge
- Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program
- Deputy Prime Minister announces $240 million for Cohere to scale-up AI compute capacity
Stay connected
Find more services and information on the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada website.
Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on social media.
X (Twitter): @ISED_CA | Facebook: Canadian Innovation | Instagram: @cdninnovation |
LinkedIn: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Contacts: Myah Tomasi, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, [email protected], 343-543-7210; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, [email protected]
Share this article