diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
index c1a075b3..60f1ab77 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ jobs:
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
       script: ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
-      matrix_filter: map(select(.PY_VER != "3.14")) | map(select(.ARCH == "amd64"))
+      matrix_filter: map(select(.PY_VER != "3.14"))
   wheel-build-cugraph-pyg:
     needs: checks
     secrets: inherit
@@ -279,4 +279,4 @@ jobs:
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
       script: ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
-      matrix_filter: map(select(.PY_VER != "3.14")) | map(select(.ARCH == "amd64"))
+      matrix_filter: map(select(.PY_VER != "3.14"))
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yaml b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
index e5131126..0016e379 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ jobs:
       date: ${{ inputs.date }}
       sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
       script: ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
-      matrix_filter: map(select(.PY_VER != "3.14")) | map(select(.ARCH == "amd64"))
+      matrix_filter: map(select(.PY_VER != "3.14"))
   wheel-tests-cugraph-pyg:
     secrets: inherit
     uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@main
@@ -63,4 +63,4 @@ jobs:
       date: ${{ inputs.date }}
       sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
       script: ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
-      matrix_filter: map(select(.PY_VER != "3.14")) | map(select(.ARCH == "amd64"))
+      matrix_filter: map(select(.PY_VER != "3.14"))
diff --git a/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh b/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
index ab1b2d5f..6eebb990 100755
--- a/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
+++ b/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
@@ -64,22 +64,29 @@ rapids-pip-retry install \
 
 # RAPIDS_DATASET_ROOT_DIR is used by test scripts
 export RAPIDS_DATASET_ROOT_DIR="$(realpath datasets)"
-mkdir -p "${RAPIDS_DATASET_ROOT_DIR}"
-pushd "${RAPIDS_DATASET_ROOT_DIR}"
-./get_test_data.sh --test
-popd
 
 # Enable legacy behavior of torch.load for examples relying on ogb
 export TORCH_FORCE_NO_WEIGHTS_ONLY_LOAD=1
 
 if [[ "${torch_downloaded}" == "true" ]]; then
+
+  # only need to download datasets if 'torch' is installed, otherwise all the
+  # tests using them are skipped
+  mkdir -p "${RAPIDS_DATASET_ROOT_DIR}"
+  pushd "${RAPIDS_DATASET_ROOT_DIR}"
+  ./get_test_data.sh --test
+  popd
+
   # 'torch' is an optional dependency of 'cugraph-pyg'... confirm that it's actually
   # installed here and that we've installed a package with CUDA support.
   rapids-logger "Confirming that PyTorch is installed"
   python -c "import torch; assert torch.cuda.is_available()"
 
   rapids-logger "pytest cugraph-pyg (single GPU, with 'torch' and 'torch-geometric')"
-  ./ci/run_cugraph_pyg_pytests.sh
+  ./ci/run_cugraph_pyg_pytests.sh \
+    --cov-config=../../.coveragerc \
+    --cov=cugraph_pyg \
+    --cov-fail-under=70
 fi
 
 rapids-logger "import cugraph-pyg (no 'torch' or 'torch-geometric')"
diff --git a/ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh b/ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
index 2fd37ffd..840fe15e 100755
--- a/ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
+++ b/ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
@@ -57,7 +57,10 @@ if [[ "${torch_downloaded}" == "true" ]]; then
   python -c "import torch; assert torch.cuda.is_available()"
 
   rapids-logger "pytest pylibwholegraph (with 'torch')"
-  ./ci/run_pylibwholegraph_pytests.sh
+  ./ci/run_pylibwholegraph_pytests.sh \
+    --cov-config=../../.coveragerc \
+    --cov=pylibwholegraph \
+    --cov-fail-under=15
 fi
 
 rapids-logger "import pylibwholegraph (no 'torch')"
diff --git a/dependencies.yaml b/dependencies.yaml
index f6f5a3c2..5ddb3a35 100644
--- a/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/dependencies.yaml
@@ -445,11 +445,21 @@ dependencies:
             packages:
           # matrices below ensure CUDA 'torch' packages are used
           - matrix:
+              arch: aarch64
               cuda: "12.9"
               dependencies: "oldest"
               require_gpu: "true"
             packages:
               - &torch_cu129_index --extra-index-url=https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu129
+              # 'triton' didn't have aarch64 wheels until v3.5.0 and 'torch==2.8.0' pins to 'triton==3.4.0'...
+              # so need to depend on a slightly newer 'torch' for the oldest-deps configuration on aarch64
+              - torch==2.9.0+cu129
+          - matrix:
+              cuda: "12.9"
+              dependencies: "oldest"
+              require_gpu: "true"
+            packages:
+              - *torch_cu129_index
               - torch==2.8.0+cu129
           - matrix:
               cuda: "12.9"
diff --git a/python/cugraph-pyg/pyproject.toml b/python/cugraph-pyg/pyproject.toml
index 43014f36..1d2c7b16 100644
--- a/python/cugraph-pyg/pyproject.toml
+++ b/python/cugraph-pyg/pyproject.toml
@@ -11,6 +11,18 @@ requires = [
 build-backend = "rapids_build_backend.build"
 
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
+addopts = [
+    "--benchmark-warmup=off",
+    "--benchmark-max-time=0",
+    "--benchmark-min-rounds=1",
+    "--benchmark-columns=mean,rounds",
+    "-m", "not slow"
+]
+markers = [
+    "slow: slow-running tests/benchmarks",
+    "mg: Test MG code paths - number of gpu > 1",
+    "sg: Test SG code paths - number of gpu == 1",
+]
 testpaths = ["cugraph_pyg/tests"]
 
 [project]
diff --git a/python/cugraph-pyg/pytest.ini b/python/cugraph-pyg/pytest.ini
deleted file mode 100644
index 1ef34ffd..00000000
--- a/python/cugraph-pyg/pytest.ini
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2021-2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-
-[pytest]
-addopts =
-           --benchmark-warmup=off
-           --benchmark-max-time=0
-           --benchmark-min-rounds=1
-           --benchmark-columns="mean, rounds"
-           ## do not run slow tests/benchmarks by default
-           -m "not slow"
-
-markers =
-          slow: slow-running tests/benchmarks
-          mg: Test MG code paths - number of gpu > 1
-          sg: Test SG code paths - number of gpu == 1
-
-python_classes =
-          Bench*
-          Test*
-
-python_files =
-          bench_*
-          test_*
-
-python_functions =
-          bench_*
-          test_*