Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled Canada's long-awaited national AI strategy in Toronto on Thursday, built around a central problem his government says it can no longer ignore. "Globally, Canada ranks near the bottom of countries in AI training, in literacy and trust," Carney said.
The strategy describes a "major adoption gap" and says closing it "is the foundation on which everything else depends."
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Free training and post-secondary access
A new literacy initiative will offer entry-level AI training to all Canadians at no cost. The government also committed to ensuring "all post-secondary students have access to trusted AI agents."
"With free and trustworthy AI learning kits, including courses and modules, Canadians will better understand AI, be able to use it safely and confidently, and put it to work in their own lives," Carney said.
New laws targeting surveillance pricing and deepfakes
Trust is a central theme throughout the strategy. The government is promising new legislation to "ensure interactions with chatbots are safe" and to prevent Canadians' personal information from being used for surveillance pricing.
Carney also indicated the upcoming privacy bill will include measures targeting deepfakes. Speaking in French, he said legislation on the protection of children and the use of AI will be introduced in the coming weeks.
An additional $50 million will go toward Canada's AI safety institute. The government also plans to launch a certification program for trustworthy AI and says it will pursue "AI transparency, including capabilities like watermarking of AI-generated content."
Jobs and a 'pro-worker' approach
The strategy promises up to 90,000 AI-related jobs for young people and frames itself as pro-worker rather than pro-replacement.
"This means technology is designed to augment human expertise rather than displace it, helping workers move into higher-value roles while delivering the productivity gains that strengthen Canadian competitiveness," the strategy says.
Where the money is going
The federal government is committing $500 million to expand the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative to speed up AI adoption and commercialisation across the country.
A separate $500 million will go toward a new Canadian Tech Growth Fund, which "will provide flexible growth capital and investment support, and enable the federal government, at times, to take equity stakes in the most promising Canadian AI firms."
The first $200 million in a new public-good AI program will focus on improving health outcomes.
The government will also grow the Canada CIFAR AI Chairs program from 130 to nearly 200 researchers.
Notably, the strategy does not include new money for compute infrastructure. It leans instead on $2 billion in previously announced investments.
Sovereignty and the push away from foreign platforms
The strategy is candid about Canada's dependence on foreign technology.
"Canadian researchers train models on foreign cloud platforms. Canadian companies store sensitive data in foreign jurisdictions. Government operations rely on infrastructure Canada does not own. And the country's best AI talent faces constant recruitment pressure from abroad. The risks are not abstract," it says.
The government says it will address this by "building its key sovereign capabilities domestically whenever possible, while partnering with trusted allies or buying existing market solutions when appropriate."
An alliance to rival U.S. big tech
Canada is also looking to build international alliances. The government announced it will expand a sovereign technology partnership launched with Germany in February.
Asked directly whether the alliance is meant as an alternative to U.S. big tech, Carney was blunt. "'Yes' is the short answer," he replied.
He pointed to Toronto-based Cohere as evidence Canada is already positioned to lead, noting the country is one of only a few with a homegrown large language model. "That's part of a broader AI ecosystem that we can build alliances around," Carney said.
"A coalition of aligned democracies, who pool research, talent, compute, and procurement power, would offer a credible alternative to the dominant market actors that increasingly define the global AI landscape. Canada is uniquely positioned to lead such an alliance," the strategy document states.
*With files from Hannah Alberga and CP
