TECHNATION Response to Canada’s National AI Strategy

TECHNATION Response to Canada's National AI Strategy

TECHNATION welcomes the release of Canada's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, "AI for All". As Canada's leading information technology association, representing domestic and global tech companies, TECHNATION sees this strategy as a timely and necessary step toward securing Canada's digital future and global competitiveness in AI. The strategy's focus on increasing adoption, building trust, and developing a skilled workforce reflects priorities that our members have consistently expressed.

TECHNATION's Position

TECHNATION believes that Canada's AI future must balance bold ambition with responsible governance. Throughout the 2025 consultation process with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, TECHNATION advanced a set of member-driven positions, including that:

• Government should lead by example as an early adopter of AI in the public sector;
• A strong national talent and AI literacy agenda is essential to closing Canada's adoption gap;
• Canada must scale and retain its domestic champions; and
• Canada should pursue clear, balanced and harmonized AI regulation aligned with global standards

These positions reflect the lived experience of TECHNATION members who are building and deploying AI across health care, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, education and the public sector, to name a few. We are pleased to see significant alignment between what our members called for and what the government has put forward in its national strategy.

AI Adoption

TECHNATION supports the strategy's central goal of closing Canada's AI adoption gap, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises. The target of raising business adoption from 12 percent to 60 percent by 2034, supported by a $500 million expansion of the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative, alongside a $500 commitment to help Canadian SMEs access financing to incorporate AI tools in their operations through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) LIFT program, directly answers a barrier our members identified: that Canadian firms have few affordable domestic options to access the resources they need to scale and commercialize AI projects. Establishing the federal government as a strategic anchor customer and leveraging Buy Canadian to support domestic scale-ups echoes our call for government to act as a lead market for homegrown AI.

AI Compute Capacity

We welcome the strategy's emphasis on sovereign AI capacity, including the additional $700 million investment in the AI Compute Access Fund to expand domestic compute capacity, the emphasis on enhancing cloud and data infrastructure, and the expansion of the Sovereign Technology Alliance. This aligns with TECHNATION's position that international partnerships are sovereign assets, and compute is critical infrastructure that must be accessible to SME's across the country.

National AI Literacy

A National AI Literacy Initiative reaching all Canadians, the goal of equipping more than 3,000 educators with AI learning kits, and the creation of up to 90,000 AI-related jobs for Canadians, create a foundational approach to empower the next generation of Canadian AI talent and embody the overall "AI for All" approach. Furthermore, the commitment to attract and retain talent, including expanded Global Talent Stream immigration pathways and an increase in Canada CIFAR AI Chairs to nearly 200 researchers, reflects the comprehensive talent strategy our members have championed.

As a delivery partner for the Government of Canada's Student Work Placement Program (SWPP), through which the strategy will deliver 45,000 of these placements, TECHNATION is pleased to see an emphasis on using this program to build a stronger, more inclusive tech workforce by connecting students with meaningful, career-building opportunities.

At the same time, we encourage the Government of Canada to help Canadians navigate the real effects of AI on the workplace, while bringing federal departments and provinces into alignment around a clearer vision for education, professional development, reskilling, and career mobility. Widespread AI literacy and adoption are necessary foundations, but on their own they are unlikely to fully address potential labour market disruptions. We see an opportunity for the strategy to go further in defining what a coherent workforce transition pathway looks like for Canadians, and we welcome the strategy's Workforce Alliances and mid-career upskilling commitments as promising steps in that direction.

Responsible AI Governance

Finally, we support the strategy's commitment to responsible governance, including the $50 million expansion of the Canadian AI Safety Institute, a Canada Trusted AI Certification program, and new consumer privacy legislation. These measures reflect our position that trust, transparency and accountability are prerequisites for adoption, not constraints upon it.

Opportunities for Further Development

Canada cannot rely on a strategy alone. Our members have been clear that AI governance frameworks are evolving quickly and that other jurisdictions have already outpaced Canada. A national strategy provides direction, but durable certainty for investors, innovators and adopters will depend on successful implementation. TECHNATION encourages the government to move forward with a proportionate, risk-based AI framework that promotes responsible innovation, interoperability with global jurisdictions, while ensuring safety and accountability. TECHNATION also supports a new privacy framework that aligns with international standards to enable cross-border data flows, avoid regulatory fragmentation that complicates digital trade with trusted partners, and provide risk-based compliance pathways suitable for SMEs. AI regulatory oversight must remain separate from privacy law, ensuring both frameworks are effective and fit for purpose.

TECHNATION is encouraged by the Government of Canada's ongoing engagement with the ICT sector to ensure that the National AI Strategy is reflective of the priorities, opportunities and challenges that we face today. TECHNATION stands ready to work with the Government of Canada to translate this ambition into measurable results.