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RAC Fast Track Application Guide

Key dates

Date Process
Mid September 2025 Invitation email sent to eligible PIs
September 23, 2025 CCDB open for Fast Track submissions
November 4, 2025 Deadline to submit Fast Track applications
(extending this deadline is not possible)
Late March 2026 Notification with the results of the competition sent to PIs
Early April 2026 Implement new allocations

About the Fast Track application process

PIs with an existing RRG award who meet the Fast Track eligibility are allowed to submit a lightweight progress report to renew their request for computational resources. * Applying through the Fast Track process DOES NOT guarantee that you will receive the same allocation as last year. * The score received in your original RRG application will be reused and your resource request will be scaled using the same function used for all other applications according to demand and supply. This means that the resulting allocation may be scaled by a different factor than last year, which could lead to either an increase or a decrease in allocated resources for your project compared to last year.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to use the Fast Track process, the previous RRG application must have received a science score greater than 2.0 points (out of 5). This process can be used for no more than two consecutive years for a given application.

Note

If you believe you meet the eligibility criteria, yet did not receive an invitation to Fast Track, please email allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.

Benefits of the Fast Track Process

  • Lightweight application.
  • No additional peer-review.
  • Can apply through the Fast Track process for up to 2 consecutive years.

How to apply

Fast Track applications receive a technical review but do not receive another scientific review. 1. Eligible PIs will receive in September an email with an invitation to Fast Track. 2. The Fast Track application form will show by default on CCDB. To start working on it, click on Edit and then Submit when you are ready. 3. To decline the invitation to Fast Track and submit a full RRG application instead, click on Change to RRG. Any information that you have entered in your Fast Track application will be saved, and if you change your mind later on, you can click on Change to Fast Track to continue working on your Fast Track application. 4. If desired, click on Delegate to grant access to another user with an active account with the Alliance, to the application you wish to submit (e.g., RRG, Fast Track, etc.). Note that the delegated user can submit an application on behalf of the PI, but the latter remains responsible for the application submitted and the utilization of the computational resources allocated.

Application form

The Fast Track 2026 application form includes the following sections:

Details (required):

  • If applicable, provide sufficient justification to any change requested compared to the eligible amount of resources communicated in the invitation email sent to you. While we cannot guarantee the fulfilment of change requests, we will make every effort to make reasonable accommodations. There may also be a general scaling of requests due to oversubscription of resources, if applicable.
  • If applicable, list and describe any issues that you may have had with your allocation; otherwise, enter “No issue to report”.

Acceptable Changes

Certain modifications to current allocations are allowed. This includes:

  • Change of resource location (i.e., request to migrate current allocation from one system to another). Please visit the Available Resources page to see the list of systems available.
  • A 10% increase in cloud compute and storage resources.
  • A 10% increase of PROJECT, NEARLINE and/or dCache storage resources is allowed, up to a maximum of 50 TB of additional storage based on the eligible amount communicated in the invitation email. Note that the additional storage resources requested may be fully, partially or not allocated based on resource constraints and storage utilization information. For example:
    • according to the invitation email you are allowed to request 100 TB of project storage—then you may request 10 TB more (your new storage request would then be 110 TB);
    • according to the invitation email you are allowed to request a maximum 1,000 TB of nearline storage; 10% of that would be 100 TB, but since the request increase is capped at 50 TB, then the maximum that you can request is 50 TB more (your new storage request would then be 1,050 TB).

Important: You may only request up to the amount of CPU and/or GPU mentioned in the invitation email. Increase of CPU or GPU requests is not allowed. If you need more compute resources, you must submit a new application.

Progress report (required):

Provide details about what has been accomplished with the resources used (e.g., publications).

If you have questions about the Fast Track process, please email allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.