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RAC Fast Track Application Guide/en

Key dates

Date Process
Mid September 2026 Invitation email sent to eligible PIs
September 23, 2026 CCDB open for Fast Track submissions
November 3, 2026 Deadline to submit Fast Track applications
Late March 2027 Notification with the results of the competition sent to PIs
Early April 2027 Implement new allocations

Warning

Extending this deadline is not possible.

About the Fast Track application process

Resources for Research Groups (RRG) projects with at least one active allocation are eligible to apply for continuation of that project through the submission of a lightweight progress report.

Eligible projects can generally Fast Track for up to 2 consecutive years, after which a new full RRG application must be submitted. Fast Track applications do not receive another scientific review, only a technical review. Note that new Co-PIs cannot be added to a Fast Track application.

An invitation email will be sent to these PIs indicating the maximum amount of resources that their group is allowed to request (plus any acceptable changes as described in the Change request section of this guide). Keep in mind the following regarding the invitation:

  • It is intended to confirm eligibility to Fast Track and indicate the maximum amount of resources that can be requested—the invitation is not a guarantee that these resources will be allocated;
  • It gives the opportunity to accept the invitation to Fast Track, or decline it and submit a new full application;
  • It is not a confirmation that a past allocation will be automatically renewed: if a project continues and the need for our computational resources persists, a new application (either a Fast Track or a full application) must be submitted to confirm that the resources are still needed. Failing to do so will result in the expiration of your allocation.

If you have questions, please email allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.

Terms of Access for Fast Track applications

By submitting a Fast Track application you understand that

  1. The general RAC Terms of Access also apply to Fast Track applications.
  2. The score provided by the peer-review evaluation of the original RRG application will be reused for scaling and allocation decisions—resource requests will be scaled using the same function used for all other applications. This means that
    1. Resource requests may be scaled by a different factor than the previous year, which could lead to an increase or a decrease in resources previously allocated;
    2. All change requests will be reviewed: additional resources requested may be fully, partially or not allocated based on factors such as the individual score of the application relative to the average for the entire competition, the total resource demand, the progress reported over the past year, resource constraints, evidence of effective and efficient usage, and the justification for underutilization of an allocation (if applicable).
    3. Terminating an allocation is a possibility when resources allocated are underutilized and no reasonable justification is provided, or when the resulting scaled allocation is below what can be obtained by computing opportunistically through the Rapid Access Service (RAS).

How to apply

  • The Fast Track application form will show by default on CCDB for eligible PIs. To start working on it, click on Edit and then Submit when you are ready.
  • 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.
  • If desired, click on Delegate to grant access to a user with an active CCDB account.

Information requirements

The online Fast Track form on CCDB includes the following information:

Change request

Describe any issues that your research group may have had with an allocation. If these issues led to the underutilization of an allocation, provide details in the Justification of underutilization of a resource allocation section.

The following changes can be requested through the Fast Track application process:

  • increasing up to 10% of the eligible amount of CPU, GPU, storage or cloud indicated in the invitation email (all requests for an increase are subject to review and are dependent on capacity constraints, so they are not guaranteed);
  • moving an allocation from one system to another;
  • splitting an existing allocation into up to two systems;
  • consolidating allocations on multiple systems into one location;
  • decreasing an allocation;
  • terminating an allocation (if no longer needed).

Are you requesting any eligible change? (required)

Yes/No

If Yes – Please indicate the type of change requested (required - multiple selection possible):

  • Increase
  • Move
  • Split
  • Consolidate
  • Decrease
  • Terminate
  • Other

Change request justification and other comments

Any change requested must be sufficiently justified: be specific about systems, quantities and other relevant aspects that need to be considered to properly address your request. Note that additional resources requested may be fully, partially or not allocated based on factors such as the individual score of the application relative to the average for the entire competition, the total resource demand, the progress reported over the past year, resource constraints, evidence of effective and efficient usage, and the justification for underutilization of an allocation. If you are not requesting any changes but want to add any other comments related to your allocation, please do so here.

Justification of underutilization

If the projected utilization of a RAC allocation you currently 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, we need to know what those are to make appropriate allocation decisions—failing to provide a reasonable justification with sufficient details may negatively impact your application.

The justification is only required for resources allocated in RAC Resource Allocation Projects, which are labelled rrg-name or rpp-name (for HPC allocations) and crg-name or cpp-name (for cloud allocations). If the utilization of CPU or GPU resources in your Default project is greater than the utilization in your RAC project, you must explain why this is the case and what you plan to do about it.

If you have access to other computational resources within Canada (e.g. contributed hardware, access to a local cluster at your institution, etc.) or abroad, please also mention it here.

Progress over the last year

Describe any progress over the past year made with the use of the resources made available by the Alliance, including those used through the Rapid Access Service. This may be linked to a publication or it may be a work in progress.