Advancing research, innovation and creation in Ontario
Compute Ontario (CO) works with the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES) to plan, secure and oversee provincial investments in *DRI and bring strategic alignment to the activities of provincially funded DRI providers. On behalf of the province, we collaborate with partners in the broader provincial and national DRI ecosystems to coordinate funding, skill development, and operations. Our goal is to ensure that Ontario researchers and their industry partners have access to crucial digital resources to achieve their research and creation goals, within a thriving DRI ecosystem that is sustainably funded and technologically sound.
*What is DRI?
Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) is the ecosystem of compute and data storage, high speed networks, experts and software that powers artificial intelligence, advanced research and high-tech industry. DRI-based research is being applied in every field, from the design of next-generation materials and cancer treatments to film and media creation, curation and preservation. DRI-based research fuels profitable academic-industry joint ventures, innovative tech start-ups and the transformation of sectors such as mining and manufacturing — creating significant economic benefit and building/attracting expert talent to the province.
Ontario’s DRI is funded by the provincial and federal governments, with contributions from Ontario universities. Services in Ontario are delivered by four consortia of academic and health institutions.
Announcements
New self-paced DRI training resources!
JULY 6, 2026 Compute Ontario is pleased to share the completion of three new open-access, self-paced training materials to build data management knowledge and skills for researchers using high-performance computing and AI. These materials have been developed by collaborative teams of experts across the province, with the help of funding provided by Compute Ontario and Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) through a call for proposals issued in 2025. In total, CO and OBI awarded $75,000 to support skills development for Ontario researchers, students and research support staff. Congratulations to the project teams who produced these valuable and easily accessible resources.