RAC application guide/en

Please read this guide carefully.

Submission dates

Application	Start	Deadline
* Resources for Research Groups (RRG) ** Including Fast Track applications	September 23, 2026	November 3, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
* Research Platforms and Portals (RPP) ** Including RPP Annual Progress Reports		Extension of this deadline is not possible.

The results of the annual Resource Allocation Competition (RAC) will be announced in the spring.

For any questions, please contact allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca. We also recommend consulting the RAC Frequently Asked Questions page and Technical Glossary, as well as the annual report with the results of past RAC rounds (this includes the list of recipients with a summary of the awards).

Before you apply

1. We encourage all applicants to attend, or watch the recording of, one or several RAC information sessions this fall. The recordings will be available after the presentations here.
2. If you are applying for the first time, or you plan to submit a new application that will request resources that are asking for a Very Large amount of resources, we strongly encourage you to schedule a pre-submission consultation before October 30, 2026.
3. A considerable amount of compute resources can be obtained through the Rapid Access Service (RAS) with a Default Resource Allocation Project (RAP) and without the need to apply for RAC. Please consult the Job Scheduling Policy and the Allocation and compute scheduling documentation to better understand how to access compute resources without a RAC allocation—this can save you significant time and effort by avoiding submitting an unnecessary RAC application.
4. Your resource allocation is based on demonstrated need, not solely on previous year's usage. If your existing allocation does not meet your computational needs, you may request a minimal increase with proper justification. Conversely, if your usage is significantly lower than your existing allocation by the submission deadline, you must explain the reasons for the underutilization and the need to maintain the allocation. While a moderate underutilization does not automatically lead to the termination of an allocation, future allocations could be reduced or reverted to basic access to align with a historically low usage, particularly when no reasonable justification is provided.
5. Plan ahead and submit your application before the deadline: late submissions will not be accepted.
6. “Departmental" applications (that is, applications submitted on behalf of a group of PIs that may be from the same department or institution but are not collaborating in a common research project with clear goals and outcomes) are not accepted.
7. Do not submit multiple applications “just in case”: all applications submitted will be checked for eligibility but only those that meet the eligibility requirements will be considered: if you don't know what application pathway is best for you or have eligibility questions, please contact allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca before you start doing any work.

Terms of Access

By submitting a RAC application, you understand that

1. Resources awarded to successful applicants are provided FREE OF CHARGE.
2. Allocation decisions are the responsibility of the Resource Access Program Administrative Committee (RAPAC): these decisions are final and there is no appeal process. Applicants are welcome to share with the RAPAC any questions or concerns they may have about the results of an application and flag any potential errors. The RAPAC will analyze these concerns on a case-by-case basis and make every effort to answer questions, correct potential errors, and make reasonable accommodations when appropriate, but final allocation decisions remain at the discretion of the RAPAC.
3. All requests are scaled back every year based on different considerations that include, but are not limited to, the score from the peer review, the resource demand, capacity constraints, the size and computational expertise of the research group, and evidence of effective and efficient utilization of resources. Due to capacity constraints, there is no guarantee that a project will receive the same amount of resources than the previous year.
4. RAC allocations are not automatically renewed: an application must be submitted every year through any of the pathways available to confirm that the resources are still needed so that all requests can be properly reviewed. If no application is received, the existing allocation(s) will expire and no extension will be granted.
5. Only applications above the minimum passing score will be considered for an allocation. A successful score, however, does not guarantee that a project will receive the entirety of the resources requested.
6. The standard duration of a RAC allocation is one (1) year. Exceptionally, this duration may be extended or shortened during a specific competition round due to technical, logistical or other critical constraints (e.g. the delivery of new infrastructure is delayed).
7. Successful RAC applications are generally allowed to apply for continuation of resources for up to two years with the submission of a lightweight annual progress report; however, all requests received are reviewed and successful ones are allocated for one (1) year. For continuing projects, the score obtained from the original peer-review of the application will be carried over and used to make subsequent allocation decisions.
8. The PI is responsible for meeting the information requirements and overseeing the overall quality of the submitted RAC application, which will be evaluated based on the information provided.
9. Resources requested in the online form must match those listed in the application document and there should be no discrepancies between the two: in case of discrepancy, what is requested in the online form will prevail.
10. Any personal information collected by the Alliance is used only to review applications. Such information may be shared with relevant officials in the corresponding Alliance regional partner, as well as with the home institutions of the RAC applicant.
11. The Alliance will make publicly available the following information of successful projects: Name, Institution and Department of the PI; Project title and Summary; Field of research; Specific Research Area, and Amount allocated.
12. Researchers are required to acknowledge the Alliance and its regional partner organizations when publications or reports are published on research that uses the resources provided. For details about the wording to use, please visit Acknowledging the Alliance.

Application pathways

The RAC enables faculty members and their research groups to access compute, storage and cloud resources beyond what can be obtained via the RAS.

These resources are provided FREE OF CHARGE.

	Resources for Research Groups (RRG)	Research Platforms and Portals (RPP)
---	---	---
Resources for Research Groups (RRG) Including Fast Track applications	September 23, 2026	November 3, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Research Platforms and Portals (RPP) Including RPP Annual Progress Reports		Extension of this deadline is not possible.

The results of the annual Resource Allocation Competition (RAC) will be announced in the spring.

For any questions, please contact allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca. We also recommend consulting the RAC Frequently Asked Questions page and Technical Glossary, as well as the annual report with the results of past RAC rounds (this includes the list of recipients with a summary of the awards).

Before you apply

1. We encourage all applicants to attend, or watch the recording of, one or several RAC information sessions this fall. The recordings will be available after the presentations here.
2. If you are applying for the first time, or you plan to submit a new application that will request resources that are asking for a Very Large amount of resources, we strongly encourage you to schedule a pre-submission consultation before October 30, 2026.
3. A considerable amount of compute resources can be obtained through the Rapid Access Service (RAS) with a Default Resource Allocation Project (RAP) and without the need to apply for RAC. Please consult the Job Scheduling Policy and the Allocation and compute scheduling documentation to better understand how to access compute resources without a RAC allocation—this can save you significant time and effort by avoiding submitting an unnecessary RAC application.
4. Your resource allocation is based on demonstrated need, not solely on previous year's usage. If your existing allocation does not meet your computational needs, you may request a minimal increase with proper justification. Conversely, if your usage is significantly lower than your existing allocation by the submission deadline, you must explain the reasons for the underutilization and the need to maintain the allocation. While a moderate underutilization does not automatically lead to the termination of an allocation, future allocations could be reduced or reverted to basic access to align with a historically low usage, particularly when no reasonable justification is provided.
5. Plan ahead and submit your application before the deadline: late submissions will not be accepted.
6. “Departmental" applications (that is, applications submitted on behalf of a group of PIs that may be from the same department or institution but are not collaborating in a common research project with clear goals and outcomes) are not accepted.
7. Do not submit multiple applications “just in case”: all applications submitted will be checked for eligibility but only those that meet the eligibility requirements will be considered: if you don't know what application pathway is best for you or have eligibility questions, please contact allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca before you start doing any work.

Terms of Access

By submitting a RAC application, you understand that

1. Resources awarded to successful applicants are provided FREE OF CHARGE.
2. Allocation decisions are the responsibility of the Resource Access Program Administrative Committee (RAPAC): these decisions are final and there is no appeal process. Applicants are welcome to share with the RAPAC any questions or concerns they may have about the results of an application and flag any potential errors. The RAPAC will analyze these concerns on a case-by-case basis and make every effort to answer questions, correct potential errors, and make reasonable accommodations when appropriate, but final allocation decisions remain at the discretion of the RAPAC.
3. All requests are scaled back every year based on different considerations that include, but are not limited to, the score from the peer review, the resource demand, capacity constraints, the size and computational expertise of the research group, and evidence of effective and efficient utilization of resources. Due to capacity constraints, there is no guarantee that a project will receive the same amount of resources than the previous year.
4. RAC allocations are not automatically renewed: an application must be submitted every year through any of the pathways available to confirm that the resources are still needed so that all requests can be properly reviewed. If no application is received, the existing allocation(s) will expire and no extension will be granted.
5. Only applications above the minimum passing score will be considered for an allocation. A successful score, however, does not guarantee that a project will receive the entirety of the resources requested.
6. The standard duration of a RAC allocation is one (1) year. Exceptionally, this duration may be extended or shortened during a specific competition round due to technical, logistical or other critical constraints (e.g. the delivery of new infrastructure is delayed).
7. Successful RAC applications are generally allowed to apply for continuation of resources for up to two years with the submission of a lightweight annual progress report; however, all requests received are reviewed and successful ones are allocated for one (1) year. For continuing projects, the score obtained from the original peer-review of the application will be carried over and used to make subsequent allocation decisions.
8. The PI is responsible for meeting the information requirements and overseeing the overall quality of the submitted RAC application, which will be evaluated based on the information provided.
9. Resources requested in the online form must match those listed in the application document and there should be no discrepancies between the two: in case of discrepancy, what is requested in the online form will prevail.
10. Any personal information collected by the Alliance is used only to review applications. Such information may be shared with relevant officials in the corresponding Alliance regional partner, as well as with the home institutions of the RAC applicant.
11. The Alliance will make publicly available the following information of successful projects: Name, Institution and Department of the PI; Project title and Summary; Field of research; Specific Research Area, and Amount allocated.
12. Researchers are required to acknowledge the Alliance and its regional partner organizations when publications or reports are published on research that uses the resources provided. For details about the wording to use, please visit Acknowledging the Alliance.

Application pathways

The RAC enables faculty members and their research groups to access compute, storage and cloud resources beyond what can be obtained via the RAS.

These resources are provided FREE OF CHARGE.

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Description
The RRG is a peer reviewed application process for projects whose primary purpose is to conduct research requiring compute, storage and cloud resources to meet their goals. Refer to the Appendices at the end of this Guide for the RRG Evaluation Criteria and scoring matrix.

Projects primarily needing persistent instances in the cloud to provide a service through a platform or a portal should apply through the RPP application process instead. | The RPP is a peer reviewed application process for projects whose primary purpose is to provide a service to a larger research community through scientific gateways using a set of cloud-based tools or applications that improve access to shared datasets, enhance existing online research tools and facilities, or advance national or international research collaborations via a common interface. RPP projects must be able to develop, operate and manage the proposed portal or platform with minimal support from the Alliance.

Please refer to the Appendices at the end of this Guide for the RPP Evaluation Criteria and the scoring matrix.

Compute resources needed to support the backend of a RPP project can be requested with the application. However, projects primarily needing compute resources in a cluster to conduct research should apply through the RRG process instead. | | Application document | The template provided is required.

Word or OpenDocument (English, French)

LaTeX (English, French)

!!! note
This link will open a non-editable Google document. Once there, go to File → Download in the main menu and select Microsoft Word or OpenDocument Format to download the template in the format of your choosing.

Important:

Maximum 10 pages (enforced).
Only PDF format is accepted.
Instructions may change from year to year so always use the latest version of the template. | The template provided is required.

Word or OpenDocument (English, French)

LaTeX (English, French)

!!! note
This link will open a non-editable Google document. Once there, go to File → Download in the main menu and select Microsoft Word or OpenDocument Format to download the template in the format of your choosing.

Important:

Maximum 10 pages (enforced).
Only PDF format is accepted.
Instructions may change from year to year so always use the latest version of the template. | | Request period | RRG applications can request resources for one (1) year. | RPP applications can request resources for up to three (3) years in advance. However, resources are awarded for one (1) year and reassessed annually with the submission of a mandatory progress report. | | Request for continuation | Users 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. Please read the Fast Track guideline carefully as this process includes important conditions and limitations that should be considered when deciding whether to use the Fast Track process or submit a new application.

The Fast Track progress report must be completed online on CCDB. | Awarded multi-year projects do not need to submit a new application every year but are required to complete an annual progress report. The PI will be notified by email with instructions for the information required and the submission process. For more details, visit the RPP Progress Report page.

However, if you were awarded a multi-year RPP that expires in April 2027, you must submit a new RPP application this fall if your need for resources will continue for the 2027-2028 allocation cycle.

The RPP progress report must be completed online on CCDB. | | Application limits | Eligible PIs can only submit one RRG application per contest (either a full application process or a Fast Track report).

The same PI can simultaneously submit one RPP application during the same competition round.

This PI can, however, be involved in multiple RRG or RPP submissions as a co-PI, as long as these collaborations are clearly disclosed in all the applications in which the PI is participating. | Eligible PIs may submit one RPP application per competition round, but can submit additional RPPs in subsequent competition rounds.

The same PI can simultaneously submit one RRG or Fast Track application during the same competition round.

This PI can, however, be involved in multiple RRG or RPP submissions as a co-PI, as long as these collaborations are clearly disclosed in all the applications in which the PI is participating. | | Sub-projects | Each RRG application may include multiple sub-projects. While there is no limit to the number of sub-projects that can be included, we recommend a maximum of four (4) per application so that enough information about each sub-project can be provided within the page limit allowed. | Each RPP application must include only one (1) project. Sub-projects for RPP applications are not allowed. |

Who can apply

RAC applicants must be a faculty member at a Canadian academic institution and have an active CCDB account with an Academic PI role (Faculty, Adjunct Faculty or Librarian). Users with Research Institute PI or Non-academic PI roles are not eligible to apply for RAC.

Important

• First-time applicants may submit an application to the RAC after having used resources available through the Rapid Access Service (RAS) or by other means (e.g. in another country or at your institution) and determining, after consulting with a technical support staff, that these resources are no longer sufficient to meet their computational needs.
• PIs must apply with their primary, most up-to-date position. If a PI recently moved to a different institution but has not yet applied for a new faculty role on the CCDB portal, please do so before submitting your RAC application. PIs with more than one active faculty role in the CCDB portal must ensure that the most up-to-date position is set as primary. To do so, go to the Home page on the CCDB portal and click on the Make this role primary button next to the role that you want to set as primary. Failing to do this could cause problems if your application is successful*.

Contributors

Co-PI

A Co-PI is any faculty at a Canadian institution that is actively involved in the computational project. To be included in a RAC application, Co-PIs must have an active Academic PI role (Faculty, Adjunct Faculty or Librarian) on the CCDB portal. There is no limit to the number of co-PIs that can be listed in an application, but the role and involvement of each Co-PI must be clearly explained.

Delegated person

PIs can grant any other user with an active CCDB account permissions to complete and submit the RAC online form on their behalf. The PI or a senior member of the research group should review the application before it is submitted to make the entire document cohesive, to ensure that the eligibility and the information requirements are met, and to check that the application is complete: the PI is ultimately responsible for the quality of the proposal presented.

Secondary contact person

It is also possible to identify a person that our staff can contact to ask technical questions about your application. The Secondary contact person may be the same or different than the Delegated person, but it must have an active CCDB account. This person is expected to answer questions from our technical staff in a timely manner, ideally within 48 hours.

Collaborators

A collaborator is anyone actively involved in the project but that does not have a CCDB account. This may include researchers or students that are not based in Canada, as well as industry or government users. Collaborators can be mentioned in the Resource Management section of the Application Document and their involvement should be explained.

CV

The PI must upload an updated CV as part of the full application. CVs must use the harmonized, narrative style format CV template developed by the three federal granting agencies, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Please visit this page for detailed guidelines.

Important

When updating your CV, highlight what is relevant to assess your computational research specifically (e.g., highlight publications enabled by the use of Alliance resources) and not your entire research program more broadly: this is what peer-reviewers evaluating your application will focus on.

Co-PIs are not required to submit a CV (Fast Track applications and RPP progress reports do not require submission of a new CV).

Minimum amount of resources eligible for RAC

Warning

If your need for computational resources can be met with what is available via the Rapid Access Service, do not submit a RAC application.

It is extremely important that the online application form includes a request for every resource (CPU, GPU, storage or cloud) that your project needs on each cluster. There should be NO DISCREPANCIES between the amount of resources requested in your application document and the online form. In case of discrepancy, what is requested in the online form will prevail.

Note that /home and /scratch storage are not allocated through the RAC.

Please visit the Available Resources page for a list of systems available for this competition and to understand how resources must be requested in the online form. If you don't understand some of the terms listed above, please visit the Technical Glossary.

HPC resources

To be eligible for RAC, your request for HPC resources must meet the specific conditions specified for each of the resources in the list below that you plan to request.

Resource	Unit	Minimum	Important information
CPU	Core-year or Core-equivalent-year	200	A CPU request must be equal to or greater than 200 core-years, or core-equivalent-years, in each of the clusters where these resources are needed. If you require 200 core-years or less but high memory per core, please use the formula below to calculate the core-equivalent-years. The resulting calculation must be equal to or greater than 200 in order to be eligible. core-equivalent-years = MAX(core-years, mem requested / 4GB) Mem requested = core-years * mem per core requested For more information about compute allocations, core-equivalent-years, and scheduler priority, please visit the Allocation and compute scheduling page.
GPU	RGU-year	25	A GPU request must be equal to or greater than 25 reference GPU units (RGU) years in each of the clusters where you need these resources. For more information about the GPU models available and what they will be charged for in RGU, visit the Allocation and compute scheduling page
Project storage	TB	41	Contrary to CPU and GPU, where the minimum amount is required for each cluster, the minimum of 41 TB is the sum of all the project storage needed across all clusters. Important: This limit applies to General Purpose clusters only (Fir, Nibi, Rorqual and Narval). Any amount of project storage needed on Trillium must be requested through the RAC. If you need project and nearline storage, you can request both as long as one of them is equal to or greater* than the minimum eligible amount. In that case, the online form must include the project and nearline storage resources needed.
Nearline storage	TB	101	Contrary to CPU and GPU, where the minimum amount is required for each cluster, the minimum of 101 TB is the sum of all the nearline storage needed across all clusters. Important: This limit applies to General Purpose clusters only (Fir, Nibi, Rorqual and Narval) Any amount of project storage needed on HPSS must be requested through the RAC. If you need project and nearline storage, you can request both as long as one of them is equal to or greater* than the minimum eligible amount. In that case, the online form must include the project and nearline storage resources needed.
dCache storage*	-	-	Any amount of dCache storage must be requested.

*dCache storage is primarily used by certain sub-atomic physics projects. Groups coming from a different field of research must consult with a technical staff before requesting this type of storage.

Examples of eligible HPC requests

• If you need 180 core-years (or core-equivalent-years) and 50 TB of project storage on Fir, your RAC application should only request 50 TB of storage on that cluster. Do not request CPU in your application as you will be able to get the CPU that you need without a RAC allocation.
• If you need 500 core-years, 20 TB of project storage and 80 TB of nearline storage on Rorqual, your RAC application should only request 500 core-years on that cluster, as your storage needs can be met with what is available via RAS.
• If you need 100 core-years with 10 TB of project storage on Trillium and 50 TB of nearline storage on HPSS, then you should only request the 10 TB and 50 TB of storage on those clusters, respectively, as your need for CPU resources can be met without a RAC allocation.
• If you need 400 core-years, 30 RGU-years and 200 TB of project storage on Nibi, then you must request all these resources in your RAC application as they are all above the minimum eligible amounts specified in the table.
• If you need 150 core-years on Rorqual with different memory requirements: 100 cores with 16 GB per core (which results in 400 core-equivalent-years) and 50 cores with 4 GB per core (50 core-equivalent-years), then you should make two separate CPU requests on Rorqual to account for the different memory requirements. This request is acceptable because the total core-equivalent-years needed on a single cluster is greater than the minimum amount of CPU specified in the table. Another acceptable option would be to average out the total memory per core needed and just make one request for 150 cores with 12 GB per core.
• If you need 45 TB of project storage and you want to split it between Rorqual and Narval as follows: 20 TB on Rorqual and 25 TB on Narval, then this request is eligible since the total amount of project storage needed exceeds 41 TB.
• If you need a total of 100 TB of storage on Fir, split as follows: 50 TB of project storage and 50 TB of nearline, then this request is eligible because even though the nearline amount is below the minimum (101 TB), the project storage request is eligible. Therefore, you should include both requests in your application.

Examples of ineligible HPC requests

• If you need 250 core-years in total but you want to split the CPU request between Fir and Nibi as follows: 100 cores with 4 GB per core on Fir and 150 cores with 4 GB per core on Nibi; this request will NOT be accepted because you should be able to get the CPU that you need without a RAC allocation. If your application only includes a CPU request in this way (that is, it does not include any additional storage, GPU or cloud resources), it will be rejected.
• If you need 20 reference GPU units in total but you want to split the GPU request between Narval and Rorqual with 10 RGU and 10 RGU, respectively, this request will not be accepted.

Cloud Resources

Warning

If your need for cloud resources can be met with what is available via the Rapid Access Service, do not submit a RAC application.

To be eligible for RAC, your request for Cloud resources must be equal to or greater than at least one of the resources listed in the table below. The online form must include all cloud resources needed on each site requested, even if the amounts requested for some are below the minimum listed here. There is no minimum number of instances, volumes or snapshots required.

If you plan to request vGPUs in the cloud, you must justify in the Application Document why the project cannot use standard HPC GPUs.

As long as one of the resources needed in a particular cloud site is equal to or greater than the minimum specified in this table, the request is eligible. In that case, the online form must include all the cloud resources needed on that site, even if the amounts requested for some resources are below the minimum listed here.

Resource	Unit	Compute	Persistent
vCPU	vCPU-year	81	26
vGPU	RGU-year	3.6	N/A
RAM (GB)	GB	301	51
Floating IP	Number of IP	3	3
Volumes and Snapshot (persistent) storage	TB	11	11
Object storage	TB	11	11
Shared filesystem storage	TB	11	11

Assessing the size of your resource request

The table below provides applicants an idea of whether the amount of resources they plan to request is Small, Medium, Large or Very large by RAC standards.

Type	Resource	Unit	Small	Medium	Large	Very large
HPC	CPU	core-years	≤ 500	> 500 ≤ 2500	> 2500 ≤ 10000	> 10000
HPC	GPU	RGU-years	≤ 50	> 50 ≤ 250	> 250 ≤ 500	> 500
Cloud	vGPU	RGU-years	≤ 5	> 5 ≤ 10	> 10 ≤ 25	> 25
Cloud	Compute Cloud	vCPU-years	≤ 50	> 50 ≤ 250	> 250 ≤ 1000	> 1000
Cloud	Persistent Cloud	vCPU-years	≤ 25	> 25 ≤ 100	> 100 ≤ 250	> 250
HPC	Project storage	TB	≤ 50	> 50 ≤ 250	> 250 ≤ 1000	> 1000
HPC	Nearline storage	TB	≤ 250	> 250 ≤ 1000	> 1000 ≤ 2500	> 2500
Cloud	Volume and snapshot storage	TB	≤ 10	> 10 ≤ 50	> 50 ≤ 250	> 250
Cloud	Object storage	TB	≤ 10	> 10 ≤ 50	> 50 ≤ 250	> 250
Cloud	Shared filesystem storage	TB	≤ 10	> 10 ≤ 50	> 50 ≤ 250	> 250

Pre-submission consultations

While we encourage all applicants to consult with our technical staff if they have questions about eligibility or need help estimating your resource needs, a pre-submission consultation is strongly recommended in the following cases:

Tip

A pre-submission consultation is strongly recommended in the following cases: 1. The resource request of your RRG or RPP application falls into the Very Large category, as described in the Assessing the size of your resource request section. 2. You are applying for the first time: this includes PIs that are already using resources available through the RAS as well as new PIs, irrespective of whether they have previously used ARC resources. 3. Your project has very specific requirements such as large bursty usage needs (e.g., you would like to use a significant portion of a cluster).

The goal of the consultation is to

• determine whether the resources needed for your project justify submitting a RAC application;
• verify the project's eligibility to the right application process (RPP vs RRG);
• provide technical assistance with the calculation of the resources needed;
• determine the feasibility of meeting a very large request within our current resource constraints.

Consulting with a technical staff to prepare your application can help you build a stronger case for the resources needed—we ask you to mention in the application the name of the staff with whom you talked to and, when applicable, a brief summary with the results of that conversation (if you have a ticket number, please also mention it). Note, however, that participating in a pre-consultation does not guarantee the success of your application.

To allow adequate time for support by our technical staff, consultations must happen prior to October 30, 2026, so please request your consultation with enough time in advance. To schedule a consultation, contact allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.

Evaluation process

Administrative review

Proposals not complying with the eligibility criteria will be rejected at this stage. During this phase, applicants may be contacted by an Alliance staff regarding potential errors.

Technical review

Eligible applications will receive one or several technical reviews. These reviewers are required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement prior to accessing any RAC application.

Warning

During this process, we may require additional information about your application and try to contact you (or the designated Secondary Contact Person) to ask some clarification questions. In order to ensure that an application can progress beyond the technical review, we expect you to respond in a timely manner (preferably within 48 hours). Failing to promptly communicate with our staff and provide clear answers to their questions may negatively impact your application.

The purpose of the technical review is to

• ensure the appropriate system is requested by the PI and the required software is available;
• evaluate application efficiency and scalability;
• identify groups that may need help with application and workflow optimization;
• identify discrepancies between the resource request included in the online form and the application document;
• identify special software requirements;
• provide a technical opinion on the reasonability of the request.

Peer review

Eligible applications are peer reviewed by interdisciplinary committees, which are responsible for evaluating and scoring applications and making recommendations about allocations. However, final decisions are made by the Resource Access Program Administrative Committee (RAPAC).

Many disciplinary experts volunteer each year to serve in a peer-review committee. All these experts are based in Canada and are required to accept the Alliance's Non-Disclosure Agreement and Conflict of Interest Policy.

While PIs have the option to select the committee that best matches the field(s) of research of their RAC project, applications can be moved to a different committee at the discretion of the committee Chairs.

The score resulting from this process is based on

• the feasibility of the computational research project based on what research will be done and what outcomes will be delivered, and not on why it is important;
• the appropriateness of the resources requested to achieve the objectives of the computational research project based on the technical justification provided; and
• the likelihood that the resources requested will be efficiently used.

Full applications will be evaluated by one of the following committees:

• Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
• Bioinformatics
• Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics
• Computer Sciences and Mathematics
• Engineering
• Environmental and Earth Sciences
• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Nano, Materials and Condensed Matter
• Neurosciences, Medical Imaging and Medical Physics
• Subatomic Physics, Nuclear Physics and Space Physics

Preparing your application

Please keep in mind the following when writing your RRG or RPP application:

• Once completed, make sure that it is actually submitted: applications that are complete but not submitted will not be evaluated.
• The online application must include a request for every resource (CPU, GPU, storage or cloud) that your project needs on each cluster according to the minimum eligible amounts. There should be NO DISCREPANCIES between the amount of resources requested in your application document and what you request in the online form. In case of discrepancy, what was requested in the online form will prevail.
• Use the latest version of the application template provided and avoid writing an extremely technical proposal as the RAC peer-review committees are interdisciplinary.
• References, when applicable, must be submitted as a separate document. However, if the total number of pages of the entire application, including References, is 10 pages or less, then submitting everything in just one document is acceptable.
• If you are requesting CPU or GPU resources, you must use this Compute Calculator spreadsheet and include the table with the results of the calculations in your proposal. Note that while you can use decimals in this spreadsheet, the online form on CCDB only accepts integers, so you may round up the request to the next integer when completing the online request.
• When available, CPU and GPU utilization information will be shown in the application form on CCDB, but the most accurate way to monitor utilization of your group is by going to https://portal.alliancecan.ca/slurm. Documentation about how to use this portal and read the charts is available on this page.
• In general, RAC applicants find it difficult to estimate their GPU needs, which in most cases are over-requested and underutilized. We strongly encourage future RAC applicants to do two things before applying: start using GPU resources in order to get a better understanding of your needs, and consult with a technical support staff before submitting an application.
• In case of GPU codes, you must discuss the GPU utilization that a typical job would achieve. Any choice of MIG or full GPUs must be justified with a scalability test performed with MIGs of different sizes and full GPUs. If a CPU version of the code exists, you must compare the performance of GPU and CPU versions. Failing to provide this information may negatively impact your application and any potential GPU allocation. If you need assistance, contact allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.
  • Note that on Rorqual and Narval, GPU utilization data is available on their cluster job portals and can be used to test H100 and A100 GPU utilization, respectively (GPU utilization tests can be performed on Rorqual even if you are requesting H100 GPUs on other clusters).

Justification of underutilization

If the projected utilization of an allocation you hold is 50% or less, you must explain the reasons for the underutilization and describe any mitigation in place. We want to understand why resources allocated from the RAC pool to your research group may have not been fully utilized and what you plan to do about it. While we understand that there may be legitimate reasons for underutilization of resources allocated, we need to know what those reasons are to make appropriate allocation decisions—failing to provide a reasonable justification with sufficient details may negatively impact your application. Keep in mind the following:

• The justification is only required for resources allocated in RAC Resource Allocation Projects (RAP), which are labelled rrg-name or rpp-name (for HPC allocations) and crg-name or cpp-name (for cloud allocations). For example, if you were allocated 500 core-years in your rrg-name RAP and you are projected to use 100 core-years in rrg-name but 300 core-years in def-name project, then you must justify the underutilization (100 core-years) of the 500 core-years allocated in the rrg-name project.
• If the utilization of CPU or GPU resources in your Default project (def-name) is greater than the utilization in your RAC project (rrg-name or rpp-name), you must explain why this is the case and describe how your research group plans to address this issue to make effective and efficient use of your allocation.
• If you have access to other computational resources (e.g. contributed hardware, access to a local cluster at your institution, etc.) within Canada or abroad, please also mention it.

How allocations are determined

Resources provided by the Alliance are limited, and for this reason requests for allocations are scaled every year based on the overall score of the application and the supply and demand. Allocation decisions follow the principle that the challenges arising from the shortage of resources and other constraints within the system are shared among all applicants.

The score resulting from the peer-review evaluation is used as the main reference for making allocation decisions. It is important to note, however, that the overall score does not in itself determine the amount of resources that a project will receive—other important considerations are also taken into account. These include, but are not limited to: resource demand, capacity constraints, evidence of effective and efficient utilization of resources, justification for the underutilization of an allocation, and the size of the research group. Allocation decisions are also impacted by variability in demand and supply from one system to another and from one resource type to another (e.g., GPU is in very high demand and short supply but CPU resources are less constrained).

The table below provides an overview of the approach followed to make allocation decisions.

Resource	Scaling
CPU	CPU requests are scaled based on the overall score of the application and the size of the request. A function is established so that only applications with a score equal to or greater than 2.1 (out of 5) receive a CPU allocation. The parameters of this function are updated every year to adjust for supply and demand. The function rewards higher scores but may need to cut large requests based on capacity constraints; conversely, it penalizes applications with a low score and large requests with more severe cuts. If the scaled CPU request is less than the minimum limit (currently 200 core-years), then the allocation will be set to that minimum limit. Details and examples of the scaling function for RAC 2026 are available here.
GPU	GPU allocations are constrained, among other things, by the type of GPU requested and available in each system, and by the fact that the demand for GPUs for AI applications has increased considerably. All GPU requests are scaled similarly to CPU; however, because the demand for GPUs is several times the total available capacity, the parameters of this function must be adjusted to make more drastic cuts, particularly for large requests. The resulting scaling produces a baseline that the RAPAC then uses to approve, adjust (up or down) or reject (no allocation) a request according to the following factors: the science score of the full application; the science score (for Fast Track and ongoing RPPs, the score of the original RRG or RPP application is reused); the available capacity on each cluster (including memory and CPU cores per GPU available); the technical justification provided in the application document; evidence of previous GPU utilization; justification for underutilization (if applicable); * the size of the research group. Groups with an active RAC allocation that show a significantly larger GPU utilization in the Default project than their RAC project without a reasonable justification for it are penalized, as this indicates that their need for GPU resources can be met without applying for RAC resources.
Storage	As a general practice, a similar scaling is applied to all storage requests to provide a baseline. However, storage allocations cannot be universally scaled similarly to CPU or GPU resources as many projects have significant datasets that must be stored in their entirety. A comprehensive storage-focused technical review is then undertaken to identify projects that would be materially affected by the scaling. This takes into account the project’s proposed storage use, the total demand and capacity available on each cluster, the current and historical project usage, and any justification provided for the underutilization of a storage allocation. For instance, storage of simulation results may be proportional to the compute allocation for those simulations, while storage of a major experimental database may be independent of any other scaling. The science score is also taken into consideration, especially when significant decreases are required due to lack of capacity.

Monetary value of resources

All resources made available through the RAC are provided FREE OF CHARGE.

To give users an idea of how much it costs the Digital Research Alliance of Canada to operate them, we offer an estimated financial value that can be used for general reference. These values represent an average across the national sites and include total capital and operational costs incurred to deliver the resources and associated services (these are not commercial or market values).

The email sent to successful candidates with the results of their application will include a monetary value of the awarded resources based on updated values for each competition round—this information is provided so that it can be referenced as an in-kind contribution and communicated to institutions, granting agencies, and other interested parties as needed.

For RAC 2026, the value of the resources allocated was calculated using the rates below (these values are updated every year and included in the annual RAC report published in this page).

Type	Resource	Financial value
HPC	1 core-year (CPU)	$36.03
HPC	1 RGU-year (GPU)	$1,032.05
HPC	1 TB of project storage	$25.55
HPC	1 TB of dCache storage	$25.55
HPC	1 TB of nearline storage	$22.16
Cloud	1 vCPU-year	$24.80
Cloud	1 RGU-year (vGPU)	$980.62
Cloud	1 TB of cloud storage (Ceph)	$33.73
Cloud	1 TB of object storage	$33.73
Cloud	1 TB of shared filesystem storage	$33.73

These numbers can be helpful for RAC applicants to estimate the approximate financial value of the resources they plan to request. For example, someone asking for 200 RGU-years of GPUs with 500 core-years of CPU with 100 TB of project storage would be asking for the equivalent of $226,980 worth of resources (based on the financial values used for the 2026-2027 allocation period).

Appendix A: Resources for Research Groups evaluation criteria

RRG applications are evaluated against the two following criteria: Research Methods and Resource Management and Computational Expertise.

Research Methods (70%)

This criterion evaluates the methods proposed to achieve the objectives of the computational project and the appropriateness of the resources requested. It focuses more on assessing what research will be done with the resources requested and on the technical justification provided, than on why the research is important.

Considerations for the evaluation of this criterion include the following:

Research Outline

• The research problem is clearly presented.
• The overall goal and objectives of the project are well-defined and clear, and they state what the computational project is ultimately expected to achieve.

Expected Outcomes

• The application presents anticipated outcomes and indicates the means by which these will be measured.
• The proposed computational project outputs (i.e., the anticipated results of the project) and impact are clearly described, are aligned to the objectives, are of relevance and are realistic and attainable.
• The proposed computational research project is likely to lead to advances in the research area.

Progress Over the Past Year

• The application shows achievements, outcomes and/or evidence of progress resulting from the utilization of resources provided by the Federation over the past year.

Computational Methods

• The application describes appropriate tools, methods and approaches for addressing the research objectives. These methodologies may be community codes or models, data analysis methods, algorithmic formulations expressed in user-developed scripts or tools, as well as trials or test implementations.

Resource Request Justification

• When applicable, a justification for low utilization (or lack thereof) of an existing allocation is provided and deemed reasonable.
• The amount of resources requested is deemed appropriate to achieve the project objectives, and the technical justification provided is excellent.
• The application describes necessary and sufficient computational experiments to answer the research questions posed.

Resource Management and Computational Expertise (30%)

This criterion evaluates the capacity of the research team as a whole to manage the project and make efficient use of the resources requested. It also assesses the overall feasibility of the computational project based on the research and computational expertise of the team.

The team includes the Principal Investigator (PI) and, if applicable, Co-PIs and any Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) actively participating in the computational project.

HQP includes all research personnel involved in the applicant’s computational project, whether from academia, government or industry. The number of HQP using resources provided by the Federation directly is expected to be appropriate to the scope of the project.

The nature, breadth and depth of the applicants’ (PI and, if applicable, Co-PIs) experiences and contributions should be assessed in the context of their career stages. Committee members must not impart, refer to or consider information about the applicants that does not appear in the application.

It is not mandatory that an application includes Co-PIs or HQP to obtain the full Resource Management score. However, the proposed research must be achievable by the listed team members, particularly if it is only one PI and/or if there is no funding available. It is expected that applications asking for large amounts of resources will have funding to justify the request.

The level of detail needed to get a high score for the Resource Management criterion is a function of team size and resource ask.

Considerations of this review criterion include the following:

Funding

• Funding is available for the research project to justify the request for computational resources; when funding is not available, a reasonable explanation for how the compute resources will be utilized is provided.

Computational Expertise of the Team

• The team shows sufficient computational expertise or a training plan to make effective and efficient use of the computational resources requested.

Management Strategy

• Information about each team member (PI, Co-PIs and HQP, when applicable) and their requested computational resources are clearly described.
• The roles and responsibilities of the PI and Co-PIs, if applicable, are clearly described with respect to making efficient use of the resources requested and are linked to the objectives of the computational project (Co-PIs contribute to the Resource Management score in accordance with their involvement).
• The team demonstrates the combined expertise and experience needed to execute the computational project, i.e., deliver the proposed outputs as well as achieve the proposed contribution(s).

Appendix B: Research Platforms and Portals evaluation criteria

RPP applications are evaluated based on the following two criteria: Project Justification and Resource Management and Expertise of the Team.

Project Justification (50%)

Considerations for the evaluation of this criterion include the following:

Project Description, Objectives and Impact

• The problem or need that the research platform/portal will address is clearly presented.
• The objectives and goals of the platform/portal clearly described.

Use of the Platform/Portal

• The added value from the creation or maintenance of the platform or portal for the targeted communities is clearly explained.
• If applicable, the level of interaction between Canadian and international research groups is clearly described.

Expected Outcomes

• The application presents a clear timeline for the delivery of the anticipated outcomes over the entire duration of the requested resources and indicates the means by which these outcomes will be measured.

Progress over the Past Year

• The application shows achievements, outcomes and/or evidence of progress resulting from the utilization of resources provided by the Federation over the past year.
• When applicable, a justification for low utilization (or lack thereof) of an existing allocation is provided and deemed reasonable.

Resource Request Justification

• The amount of resources requested is deemed appropriate to achieve the project objectives, and the technical justification provided is solid.

Resource Management and Expertise of the Team (50%)

This criterion evaluates the capacity of the research team as a whole to manage, develop and operate the platform/portal, and the ability of the team to make efficient use of the resources requested. It also assesses the overall feasibility of the project based on the expertise of the team.

The team includes the Principal Investigator (PI) and, if applicable, Co-PIs and any Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) actively participating in the project.

HQP includes all research personnel involved in the project, whether from academia, government, or industry. The number of HQP directly involved in the management, development and operation of the platform/portal is expected to be appropriate to the scope of the project.

It is expected that applications asking for large amounts of resources will have sufficient funding to develop, manage and operate the platform/portal.

Considerations of this criterion include:

Funding

• Funding is available to support the management, development and operation of the platform/portal and to justify the request for computational resources; when funding is not available, a reasonable explanation for how the platform/portal will be managed, operated and developed and how the compute resources will be utilized is provided.

Team Configuration and Expertise

• The team assembled to manage, develop and operate the platform has the right combination of skills (where positions are not yet filled, a description of the position has been included).

Management Strategy

• The proposed management of the resources is well defined and will provide broad access to the research community.
• The process for resource access is well defined, and a credible strategy to maintain or increase the community accessing resources is described.
• The proposed methods and technologies are suitable and well justified for the services to be provided by the platform.
• The approach to sharing data sets across the platform or portal is well described, and potential accessibility issues are properly addressed.

Appendix C: Scoring matrix

RAC applications are scored based on a 5-point scale as shown in the table below. Applications with a score of 2.0 or lower are considered unsuccessful and will not be awarded.

Descriptor	Range	Definitions
Excellent	4.1 - 5.0	The application excels in all relevant aspects of the review criteria. Any shortcomings are minimal.
Good	3.1 - 4.0	The application excels in most relevant aspects of the review criteria and reasonably addresses all others. Certain improvements are possible.
Fair	2.1 - 3.0	The application excels in some relevant aspects of the review criteria. Relevant aspects could be better addressed and/or need to be revised or improved.
Poor	1.1 - 2.0	The application broadly addresses relevant aspects of the review criteria. Relevant aspects of the review criteria are unclear, are missing, or require major revisions or improvements.
Insufficient	0.1 - 1.0	The application fails to provide convincing information, has serious inherent flaws or gaps and/or relevant aspects of the review criteria are missing. Extensive revision will be required.

Appendix D: Non-disclosure Agreement and Conflict of Interest Policy for Peer Reviewers

Definitions:

• Peer Review Committee: panel of experts in multiple disciplines that volunteer to peer review applications submitted to the Resource Allocation Competition (RAC).
• Applicant: The Principal Investigator (PI) and any co-PI listed in an application submitted to the Resource Allocation Competition (RAC).

By signing this agreement, you are accepting to abide by the policy outlined below.

The undersigned agrees to treat as strictly confidential all information received for the purpose of evaluating resource applications, as well as all unpublished material from the documents during the review process, together with all deliberations, comments, scores and recommendations of the peer review committees. This information must not be used for any purpose beyond that for which it was originally intended.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Reviewers must follow the guidelines below regarding conflicts of interest.

Reviewers must disclose, as early as possible, any conflict of interests with a RAC application to which they are directly or indirectly associated. These guidelines cannot foresee all possible situations and the Alliance must rely on the judgment of the reviewers to disclose these conflicts of interests.

Reviewers are in direct conflict if they:

• submitted an application that will be reviewed in the committee they are serving (in this case, they are in conflict with their own application only);
• are from the same university department as the applicant;
• have been a research supervisor or graduate student of the applicant within the past five (5) years;
• have collaborated or published with the applicant within the past two (2) years or have plans to collaborate or publish in the immediate future;
• are providing direct or indirect support for the application;
• are a relative or close friend, or have a personal relationship with the applicants;
• have had scientific or personal differences with the applicant that have been expressed publicly;
• are in a position to gain or lose financially from the outcome of the application (e.g., hold stock in the company of an industry partner or a competitor), or for some other reason feel that they cannot provide an objective review of the application.

Committee members are in indirect conflict if they:

• are from the same immediate institution* or company as the applicant and interact with the applicant in the course of their duties at the institution or company;
• have other reasons not to review an application.

Institutional Conflict Exception

A reviewer is not in conflict with an application if they are from the same institution as the applicant but do not know or interact with the latter.

Difficult cases should be brought to the administrators of the RAC process, who have the authority to rule.

All peer reviewers must read and agree to abide by this conflict of interest policy prior to viewing any application information.