Question Period Note: Budget 2024 – Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative

Budget 2024 – Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative

• Budget 2024 provided significant investments in growth and productivity, including more than $2 billion in targeted support to boost Canada’s artificial intelligence (AI) advantage.

• Canada’s Regional Development Agencies were allocated $200 million to help AI startups commercialize their innovations, and to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) adoption of productivity enhancing AI applications across critical sectors such as agriculture, healthcare systems, clean tech, and manufacturing.

• With over half of the Canada’s AI firms and a thriving AI ecosystem located in southern Ontario, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) is continuing to invest in start-ups, scaling SMEs, and ecosystem partners that are developing and adopting innovative AI solutions for Canadians.

• On April 16, 2024, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, tabled the 2024 Government of Canada Budget, Fairness for Every Generation, which included an investment of $2.4 billion to strengthen Canada’s AI advantage.
• Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) will deliver $200 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, to support AI start-ups’ productization and commercialization, and the adoption of AI applications by SMEs and other organizations across critical sectors.
• This is complementary to other AI supports announced in Budget 2024, including the National Research Council AI Assist ($100M to help SMEs build or integrate generative AI and deep learning products into their products and services), $50M to Employment and Social Development Canada to help workers who may be impacted by AI, and the $2B to Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada for its AI Compute Access Fund and Sovereign Compute Strategy.
• FedDev Ontario’s AI intake launched on October 22, 2024. Applications will be accepted for this intake until December 20, 2024. The Agency’s AI support will build on ongoing investments in AI start ups and scaling firms through its ongoing regional programs and drive adoption of AI across critical sectors in the region including manufacturing, life sciences, mobility, and enterprise solutions.
• Examples of FedDev Ontario’s recent AI investments include:
o Announced in June 2024, Larus Technologies, which develops and markets Software-as-a-Service/Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (SaaS AI/ML) solution for consumer brands, retailers, e-commerce, and supply chain companies, received a $1.5 million repayable contribution to support the implementation of advanced SaaS AI/ML solutions designed for business planning, decision support, and optimization.
o Announced in June 2024, Ranovus Inc., which has developed the Odin 8 optical engine, an optical-based semiconductor chip used to facilitate high-speed and high volume data communications in data centres and in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) systems, received a $4.8 million repayable contribution towards a $19.3 million project to scale up the company’s advanced manufacturing capability to begin producing the Odin 8P optical engine chip at a commercial scale.

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