Canada unveils $2.3 billion AI strategy targeting 250,000 jobs but safety details remain unclear

Canada AI Strategy Commits $2.3 Billion to Transform National Economy

Prime Minister Carney stood in Toronto on Thursday and announced AI for All, a national AI strategy that commits more than $2.3 billion in spending over five years 1

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. The Canadian federal government's AI strategy represents the country's most ambitious attempt yet to position itself as a serious player in the global AI race, targeting up to $200 billion in economic growth 3

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. AI Minister Evan Solomon, Canada's first cabinet minister with the title, said the strategy reflects what citizens want: "Canadians want safe, reliable, and sovereign AI. They want the best tools to build a prosperous future guided by our values" 1

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The plan is organized around six pillars first outlined in April's spring economic update: protecting Canadians and safeguarding democracy, empowering Canadians, powering shared prosperity, building a sovereign AI foundation, scaling Canadian champions, and building trusted partnerships and global alliances 2

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. The strategy follows national consultations in 2025 that received more than 11,000 submissions from workers, entrepreneurs, researchers, students, and community leaders 3

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AI-Related Job Creation and Economic Growth Targets

The jobs numbers are the headline grabbers. Ottawa is targeting up to 90,000 AI-related jobs and work opportunities for young Canadians by 2031, plus a further 250,000 positions created through AI adoption across the broader economy 1

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. The government expects the strategy to increase the country's gross domestic product by 3%, unlocking nearly $200 billion as commercialization and use of AI in key sectors increases labor productivity 5

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. Canada's digital sector currently employs about 800,000 workers and contributes more than $140 billion to GDP, with 150,000 jobs directly associated with AI 5

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The strategy also aims to lift AI adoption in businesses from its current rate of roughly 12 per cent to 60 per cent by 2034 1

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. Carney said Canada ranks near the bottom of countries in AI training, literacy and trust, and the country is highly dependent on foreign suppliers for the infrastructure that powers AI 4

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. There are more than 3,500 Canadian companies developing advanced AI models, tools and applications that have collectively raised more than $37 billion in venture-capital funding 4

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Canadian Tech Growth Fund to Boost Domestic AI Industry

Canada will establish a $500 million Canadian Tech Growth Fund aimed at closing what it says is the scale-up capital gap facing the country's most promising AI companies 4

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. The fund will offer flexible capital and investment support, while also providing a platform for Ottawa to at times take equity stakes in the most promising AI firms 4

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. The aim is to help these companies attract private capital, compete globally, retain talent and intellectual property and remain anchored in Canada 4

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The government will use a $500 million initiative from the Business Development Bank of Canada to finance access to AI tools for Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises 5

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. Planned government spending includes providing $500 million through a regional AI initiative to expand AI adoption, commercialization and readiness across the country 4

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Sovereign Compute and AI Supercomputer Plans

The document's strongest language is reserved for sovereignty, not safety. Canada currently relies heavily on foreign cloud infrastructure, and the strategy frames this as a vulnerability 1

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. Concrete measures include plans for a world-leading AI supercomputer and the expansion of sovereign data centres capable of 100 megawatts to serve Canadian clients 1

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. Up to $1 billion will go towards public supercomputing infrastructure alone 1

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The government will expand sovereign compute for Canadian small and medium businesses with an additional $700 million added to the existing $300 million Compute Access Fund, which last month said it had to date provided support for 44 projects 4

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. Carney said this creates risks that foreign entities could access Canadian data, deploy AI products that shape Canadian lives and "tilt the playing field against Canadian firms" 4

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National AI Literacy Initiative and AI Missions Program

The government will establish a National AI Literacy Initiative offering entry-level AI training for all Canadians, reaching 1 million post-secondary students and training more than 3,000 educators 3

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. The strategy also includes launching the first AI Missions Program, with a flagship health mission to accelerate AI adoption in diagnostics and patient care 3

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. The government additionally intends to commit $200 million to improving health care through this first mission 4

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Pope Leo XIV and the Call for Responsible AI

Carney and Pope Leo spoke by telephone on 29 May, days after the pontiff released Magnifica Humanitas, his first encyclical addressing the moral implications of artificial intelligence 1

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. The document names AI as this generation's industrial revolution and argues that without enforceable limits it will deepen inequality, erode human agency, and concentrate power among a handful of firms 1

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. According to both the Vatican and the Prime Minister's Office, the two leaders discussed the imperative that AI must serve humanity, beginning with the protection of the individual 1

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. Carney's subsequent strategy announcement positions Canada as the first G7 nation to respond directly to the Pope's call 1

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AI Risks and Biases: Where Safety Details Fall Short

But the document has a conspicuous gap. For all its talk of protecting Canadians, it offers few concrete safety mechanisms, no hard timelines for new regulation, and no clear enforcement architecture 1

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. The strategy promises new consumer privacy legislation enshrining a right to privacy and safeguarding children's information online. It also pledges to modernize safety laws. But it provides no timeline for either 1

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Earlier this year, Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller said the government was considering banning AI chatbots for children under 16. That restriction does not appear in the strategy 1

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. Officials say it is under review and may be folded into separate online harms legislation expected later this year 2

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. Ottawa has plans to update the laws and standards regarding privacy rights, ensure safeguards for children's online activities and protect vulnerable groups from online violence and algorithmic biases 4

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This would include providing Canadians with legal tools to combat deepfakes, ensuring that interactions with chatbots are safe, and strengthening privacy laws to ensure that Canadians' personal information isn't used inappropriately, such as for surveillance pricing 4

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. The government said it would invest $50 million to expand the capabilities of the Canadian AI Safety Institute to track emerging AI risks, advance technical research and to conduct transparent evaluations of AI models 4

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. However, no timeline on the implementation of these regulations was disclosed 5

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