Free Research Compute, GPU, and Cloud Storage in Canada
Apply for Free Compute
myresearchcloud.ca provides free Canadian-hosted research compute, fractional GPU access, and cloud storage for eligible researchers, students, educators, nonprofits, citizen scientists, and mission-aligned projects. Free resources are designed for early-stage research, student projects, prototypes, teaching environments, public-interest science, and projects that need practical cloud infrastructure without commercial cloud costs.
Research Computing Without Barriers
Access to compute should not be the reason a research project stalls. myresearchcloud.ca provides free cloud resources — including CPUs, fractional GPUs, and storage — for eligible Canadian researchers, students, educators, nonprofits, citizen scientists, and independent innovators working on research or public-interest projects.
Free Compute Resources
Eligible projects can apply for free CPU-based cloud compute suitable for data analysis, research software development, notebooks, teaching environments, prototypes, simulations, and small research workloads.
Free GPU Compute
Some eligible projects may receive access to free or fractional GPU compute for AI, machine learning, data science, visualization, inference, model testing, and GPU-enabled research workflows. GPU availability depends on project fit, workload requirements, and current capacity.
Free Cloud Storage in Canada
myresearchcloud.ca can support Canadian-hosted cloud storage for research data, project files, outputs, teaching resources, and lightweight data workflows. Storage availability depends on eligibility, project requirements, and current capacity.
Free Compute for Students
Students working on eligible coursework, research, teaching, nonprofit, citizen science, or public-interest projects may apply for free compute resources. Student applications should describe the project purpose, expected workload, software requirements, and whether CPU, GPU, or storage resources are needed.
Free CPU, GPU, and Storage Instance Types
| Instance | vCPU | RAM | Persistent Storage (Ceph) | Local SSD | Network | GPU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| free.small | 2 | 8 GB | 40 GB | 10 GB | 1 GbE vNIC | — |
| free.medium | 4 | 16 GB | 80 GB | 20 GB | 1 GbE vNIC | — |
| free.large | 8 | 32 GB | 160 GB | 40 GB | 10 GbE vNIC | — |
| free.xlarge | 16 | 64 GB | 320 GB | 50 GB | 10 GbE vNIC | — |
| free.gpu | 8 | 32 GB | 96 GB | 80 GB | 10 GbE vNIC | Fractional GPU |
Persistent Storage (Ceph): redundant, replicated storage for OS and data
Local SSD (Cache-Accelerated): high-speed scratch disk for temporary workloads.
Who Can Apply for Free Research Compute?
This free tier is open to Canadian researchers at universities, colleges, hospitals, institutes, and nonprofit organizations; students working on coursework or early research projects; educators building teaching environments; citizen scientists; independent scholars; and mission-aligned innovators contributing to discovery or public-interest work.
How Free Access Works
Free resources are provided on a best-effort basis and depend on available capacity. Projects are reviewed for eligibility, research or public-interest purpose, expected workload, and infrastructure requirements. Paid tiers are available for projects that need larger allocations, guaranteed support, dedicated capacity, or longer-term infrastructure.
Canadian Data Residency and Sovereign Hosting
Free compute, GPU, and storage resources are hosted in Canada and operated by a Canadian nonprofit. Canadian data residency can help research projects address institutional requirements, funder expectations, privacy considerations, governance obligations, and jurisdictional concerns.
Why We Offer Free Services
We offer free research computing resources because access to infrastructure should not depend only on large grants, institutional allocations, or commercial cloud budgets. Free resources help students, underserved researchers, nonprofits, citizen scientists, and early-stage projects begin useful computational work in a Canadian-hosted research cloud environment.
Apply for Free Research Computing Resources
Apply today for free access to Canada’s nonprofit research cloud. Eligible projects can request CPU compute, fractional GPU access, storage, and persistent cloud resources designed to support discovery, teaching, public-interest research, and community science.
Free resources are intended for research, education, nonprofit, citizen science, and public-interest projects. They are not intended for cryptocurrency mining, resale, unrelated commercial hosting, bulk scraping, or workloads that violate the Acceptable Use Policy.
Free Compute FAQ
Can I get free GPU compute in Canada?
Eligible researchers, students, educators, nonprofits, citizen scientists, and mission-aligned projects may apply for free or fractional GPU compute through myresearchcloud.ca. GPU access depends on available capacity, project fit, and workload requirements.
Who can apply for free compute resources?
Canadian researchers, students, educators, nonprofits, citizen scientists, independent scholars, and mission-aligned innovators may apply for free compute resources. Projects are reviewed based on purpose, eligibility, expected workload, and available infrastructure.
Is free compute available for students?
Yes. Students working on eligible coursework, research, teaching, public-interest, nonprofit, or citizen science projects may apply for free compute resources.
What kinds of workloads are suitable for the free tier?
Suitable workloads may include data analysis, notebooks, software development, teaching environments, prototypes, small simulations, AI inference, model testing, visualization, research portals, and lightweight data workflows.
Does myresearchcloud.ca offer free cloud storage in Canada?
Yes. Eligible research, education, nonprofit, citizen science, and public-interest projects may request Canadian-hosted cloud storage through myresearchcloud.ca. Storage can be used for research data, project files, teaching resources, outputs, and lightweight data workflows. Availability depends on project needs, eligibility, and current capacity.