Overview of AI in Canada
Things to know
- Canada has long been at the forefront of AI advancements and recognized as a global leader in the field. Groundbreaking work in Canada by Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, and Yann LeCun — the “founding fathers of AI” — has laid the foundation for many modern AI innovations, including artificial neural networks, deep learning and reinforcement learning. Canada continues to rank highly in global AI research, consistently placing fourth in the Global AI Index.
- The Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy and the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, introduced in 2024, underscore Canada’s commitment to fostering domestic AI innovation and development. The launch of the Canadian AI Safety Institute, also in 2024, has reinforced Canada’s commitment to the safe development and deployment of AI.
- While Canada’s ambitions to foster a world-leading AI ecosystem create significant opportunities, understanding Canadian norms, standards and regulatory frameworks is critical when developing, distributing or deploying AI systems in Canada.
Things to do
- Develop a high-level understanding of AI within the Canadian landscape.
- Evaluate both the opportunities and risks associated with engaging in the Canadian AI market, including challenges related to data privacy, intellectual property protection, discrimination and product liability.
- Create a governance plan for meeting emerging regulatory standards for responsible AI and ensuring compliance with Canadian legal requirements for the procurement, adoption, development and deployment of AI.
- Collaborate with Canadian legal and industry experts to navigate jurisdiction-specific considerations to achieve your organizational objectives.
Useful resources
- “Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy,” Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, December 2024
- “Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy,” Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, May 2025
- “Canada launches Canadian Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute,” Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, November 12, 2024
- “Osler AI Series: A primer on the technology, common and emerging uses, opportunities and challenges,” webinar hosted by Osler, March 7, 2023
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