The Government of Canada has announced $6.8 million in funding to support five Alberta-based organizations in improving productivity and commercializing artificial intelligence. The announcement was made by Minister Eleanor Olszewski of Prairies Economic Development Canada during the opening of Edmonton’s Upper Bound conference, which has grown into Canada’s fastest-growing AI event in just five years.
The funding is part of the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII), a $200 million federal program designed to help small and medium-sized businesses adopt and scale AI technologies in key sectors such as agriculture, cleantech, healthcare, and manufacturing. The University of Alberta received $3 million in non-repayable funding for its Canadian AI Compute Vault (CAICV), which will provide sovereign, high-performance computing infrastructure to accelerate AI development.
Four other organizations received repayable funding. Darkhorse Emergency secured $1 million to expand its analytics platform for emergency response management. Localintel received $500,000 to commercialize its Location Intelligence Content Platform for municipalities and economic development groups. Ntwist was awarded $1 million to accelerate commercialization of its AI-driven industrial mining platform. Vertical City received $1.3 million to scale its AI-integrated elevator and lobby communication software for global expansion.
Minister Olszewski emphasized that the funding will support approximately 70 jobs in Alberta and highlighted Edmonton’s leadership in the AI sector. The initiative reflects Canada’s broader strategy to strengthen AI adoption across industries, enhance competitiveness, and build long-term resilience in the digital economy.
