Canada is cementing itself as a leading country in artificial intelligence (AI) thanks to a package of measures worth CA$2.4bn in the new State budget.
The AI sector is one of Canada’s main drivers of productivity, innovation and economic growth, fostered by a traditional focus on this technology and the presence of a solid ecosystem, which enjoys good synergies between the public and private sectors.
In 2023, there were more than 140,000 actively engaged AI professionals in Canada (a 29% increase from the previous year).
Approximately 10% of the world’s high-profile researchers operating in this technology are in Canada, which also boasts the first place globally for annual growth in women employed in the sector.
Strengthening critical AI infrastructure in Canada
The Canadian government has announced it intends to further strengthen critical AI infrastructure as part of the State Budget.
This will attract more international capital and talent, as well as enable local companies to compete globally.
Public investment will initially be used to accelerate job growth in the AI sector and in other sectors and to increase the productivity of scholars and companies.
The most significant portion of the resources – approximately $2bn – will be allocated to building and providing access to computing capabilities and technological infrastructure for Canadian researchers, start-ups and scale-ups.
To this end, an AI Compute Access Fund will be established to provide short-term support to both research centres and industry.
Furthermore, around $200m will be dedicated to promoting AI start-ups in strategic sectors such as agriculture, clean technology, healthcare and manufacturing.
A further $100m will help small and medium-sized enterprises increase their productivity through the development of new artificial intelligence solutions.
Ensuring technology is deployed safely and securely
A new Canadian AI Safety Institute will be created to foster the development and safe deployment and spreading of artificial intelligence.
The Institute will help Canada protect itself from the risks of AI systems.
In the meantime, the debate on the industry legislation, namely the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), is still ongoing and the law is unlikely to be adopted before 2025.
