Governance
Transparent Oversight for a Canadian Research Cloud
Good governance is essential to trusted research infrastructure.
myresearchcloud.ca is operated by Computing for Humanity, a Canadian registered charity. Our governance model is designed to support fair access, responsible stewardship, transparency and long-term sustainability.
That means establishing clear rules for eligibility and resource allocation, protecting researcher data, managing infrastructure responsibly and ensuring that decisions remain aligned with our charitable mission.
Governance and Oversight
Computing for Humanity is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors that provides strategic direction, fiduciary oversight and accountability for the organization and myresearchcloud.ca.
The Board is responsible for ensuring that the organization remains focused on its mission, operates responsibly and develops myresearchcloud.ca in a way that balances researcher access with operational sustainability.
Technical, legal and academic advisors provide additional expertise in areas including High Performance Computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, infrastructure, research partnerships and governance.
Fair Access to Research Resources
Free research resources are finite and must be allocated responsibly.
Applications are reviewed against clear eligibility and research-use criteria. Capacity, technical suitability and the intended research purpose are considered when resources are assigned.
Our objective is to make resources available as equitably as possible while ensuring that infrastructure is used for legitimate research and public-benefit purposes.
Free allocations are provided on a capacity-available, best-effort basis.
Responsible Stewardship
Research infrastructure carries responsibilities beyond simply providing compute.
We are responsible for managing donated and purchased hardware, charitable funds, partner contributions, datacentre capacity and research resources in a way that supports the long-term interests of the organization and the researchers it serves.
Our operating model combines charitable support, donated infrastructure, volunteer expertise, foundation funding, individual giving, infrastructure partnerships and paid academic services.
That diversified model helps reduce dependence on any single source of support and contributes to the long-term sustainability of the platform.
Privacy, Security and Data Residency
Researchers need to understand where their data is located and how the infrastructure supporting their work is governed.
myresearchcloud.ca compute and storage resources are hosted in Canadian datacentres.
Our policies address privacy, acceptable use, security, data residency and the responsibilities of both the platform and its users.
These requirements are documented so that researchers and institutions can evaluate whether the service is appropriate for their workloads and obligations.
Transparency in Practice
Governance is only meaningful when policies are visible and understandable.
Our legal, operational and service commitments are published openly on this website, including:
- Terms of Use
- Acceptable Use Policy
- Privacy Policy
- Cookie Policy
- Refund and Cancellation Policy
- Service Level Agreement
- Data Residency and Sovereignty Policy
- Attribution Guidelines
These documents define the responsibilities of myresearchcloud.ca, Computing for Humanity and the researchers and institutions that use the platform.
Accountability to Our Mission
myresearchcloud.ca exists to expand access to research computing.
Governance helps ensure that growth does not move the platform away from that purpose.
As capacity, partnerships and services expand, Computing for Humanity will continue to evaluate decisions against the same principles:
- Fairness — Resources should be allocated using clear and consistent criteria.
- Transparency — Policies, responsibilities and service commitments should be understandable and publicly available.
- Stewardship — Infrastructure, funding and donated resources should be managed responsibly.
- Privacy and Security — Research data and infrastructure should be handled according to appropriate legal, operational and technical standards.
- Sustainability — The platform should be operated in a way that can support researchers over the long term.
- Mission Alignment — Decisions should continue to support accessible, affordable and Canadian-hosted research computing.
Our goal is straightforward:
To operate myresearchcloud.ca in a way that researchers, institutions, donors and partners can trust.