Question Period Note: PAN-CANADIAN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE STRATEGY

What is the Government of Canada doing to advance its artificial intelligence strategy?

• Artificial intelligence is one of the greatest technological transformations of our age.

• That is why the Government of Canada is investing in efforts to drive the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence across Canada’s economy and society.

• This includes an investment of $742 million for the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy.

• These investments harness the power of artificial intelligence to spur innovation, address important societal issues, drive economic growth, and improve living standards—all while promoting the responsible development and use of these critical new technological capacities.

• The Government of Canada is advancing the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy and additional measures, such as advancing standards, supporting post-secondary research through the granting agencies, and continuing to lead international efforts around coordination, to support artificial intelligence innovations and research in Canada.

• The Strategy and complementary measures are helping to maintain Canada’s position as a world leader in artificial intelligence, empowering businesses to be more competitive, and ensuring more Canadians benefit from growth in the digital economy.

• Since 2021, investments through the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy have helped the National Artificial Intelligence Institutes provide training and support to over 1,800 companies while leveraging $37 million in private sector investment. 85% of these companies have reported that the support of the National Artificial Intelligence Institutes has improved their ability to develop, adopt, or commercialize AI. 75% of these companies have reported productivity gains, cost savings, or other operational efficiencies as a result of their work with the Institutes (Source: CIFAR and the National Artificial Intelligence Institutes).

On June 22, 2022, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry launched a second phase of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy (PCAIS), which provides an investment of more than
$443 million committed in Budget 2021.

The strategy has three pillars, which bring together partners from across Canada.

Pillar 1: Commercialization

National Artificial Intelligence Institutes ($60 million over five years; with an additional $24 million through the 2024 Fall Economic Statement)

• The National Artificial Intelligence Institutes – Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) in Edmonton, Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute - in Montreal, and the Vector Institute in Toronto – are growing the capacity of businesses to adopt and commercialize artificial intelligence (AI).

Canada's Global Innovation Clusters ($125 million over five years; with an additional $150 million through the 2024 Fall Economic Statement)

• Canada's Global Innovation Clusters – Digital Technology Supercluster, Protein Industries Canada, Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), Scale AI, and Canada's Ocean Supercluster – are promoting the adoption of made-in-Canada AI technologies by businesses in key industries, and by public and not-for-profit entities.

Pillar 2: Standards

Standards Council of Canada ($8.6 million over five years)

• The Standards Council of Canada is supporting the development of AI-related standards.

Pillar 3: Talent and Research

The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) ($208 million over 10 years)

• CIFAR is working to attract, retain and develop academic research talent, maintain centres of research and training at National Artificial Intelligence Institutes, and is renewing advanced research, training, and knowledge mobilization programs.

Compute ($40 million over five years)

• The Digital Research Alliance of Canada is providing dedicated computing capacity for AI researchers across Canada.

These measures build on the first phase of PCAIS, launched in Budget 2017 through a $125 million investment, to support Canada’s talent base and globally competitive position in AI research.

Since 2017, over 120 researchers have been appointed as Canada CIFAR Artificial Intelligence Chairs, including over 50 leading international researchers recruited to Canada. This research community forms the nucleus of one of the richest AI talent pools in the world. Amii, Mila, and the Vector Institute report that approximately 250 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows complete internships every year from the National AI Institutes. Moreover, Canada consistently places among leading nations on international ranking systems such as the Stanford Global AI Vibrancy Index and the Tortoise Media Global AI Index.