Canada Launches AI for All Strategy, National AI Plan Jun 2026

7 Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled Canada's most ambitious artificial intelligence strategy on June 4, 2026, promising to transform the country into a global AI leader. The AI for All strategy targets $200 billion in additional economic growth over five years while creating 250,000 new AI-related jobs. Canada faces a critical gap in AI adoption despite having world-class talent and one of the fastest-growing digital sectors in the G7. With only 12% of Canadian businesses currently using AI technology, the country risks falling behind in the global race worth an estimated US$4.8 trillion by 2033. The new strategy aims to boost adoption to 60% by 2034. The comprehensive plan addresses three core pillars: building trust in AI systems, creating opportunities for all Canadians, and reinforcing Canada's technological sovereignty. This approach emerged from extensive national consultations in 2025 that received over 11,000 submissions from workers, entrepreneurs, researchers, students, and community leaders across the country.

Building Trust Through Safety and Transparency

Canada's AI for All strategy prioritizes protecting Canadians from AI risks and harms by modernizing legislative frameworks for the digital age. The government plans to strengthen protections for personal information, including specific measures against harmful practices like deepfakes and surveillance pricing. These protections will be coupled with an enhanced online safety regime to better protect social media and chatbot users. The strategy expands the capabilities of the Canadian AI Safety Institute to conduct transparent evaluations of AI models. This increased transparency will help Canadians understand how AI systems work and use them safely and responsibly. The institute will serve as a cornerstone for building public confidence in AI technologies. Multinational partnerships with trusted allies form another pillar of the trust-building approach. Through the newly formed Sovereign Technology Alliance, Canada will attract foreign investment, showcase Canadian talent abroad, and open new markets for Canadian firms. The government has already signed 12 international partnerships with countries including Australia, Germany, India, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. These agreements provide foundations for safe AI development, strengthen access to compute capacity, and foster technology adoption across government and industry stakeholders. The Protecting Victims Act, introduced in December 2025, demonstrates Canada's commitment to addressing AI-related harms. The proposed legislation would prohibit the distribution of non-consensual sexual deepfakes, increase penalties for distributing intimate images without consent, and strengthen protections against threats to distribute such materials.

Creating Opportunities for All Canadians

The opportunity creation pillar focuses on ensuring every Canadian can benefit from AI transformation through comprehensive education and training programs. The National AI Literacy Initiative will offer entry-level AI training for all Canadians, reaching 1 million post-secondary students and training more than 3,000 educators with AI learning kits in their classrooms. Free, accessible AI learning will include practical courses and sector-relevant modules designed to meet diverse learning needs. Every post-secondary student will have access to trusted AI agents, spanning disciplines from arts and commerce to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine. This comprehensive approach ensures students graduate with practical AI skills regardless of their field of study. The strategy promises up to 90,000 AI-related jobs and work placement opportunities specifically for young Canadians. These placements will help young people gain direct experience in the AI economy while building career pathways in emerging fields. The program addresses concerns about AI displacing workers by creating new opportunities and helping people adapt to changing workplace demands. Small and medium-sized businesses will receive targeted support to adopt AI technologies that support workers, raise productivity, and drive breakthroughs in priority sectors. These sectors include health, energy, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, robotics, and government services. The support recognizes that SMEs often lack resources to implement AI solutions independently but represent significant potential for economic growth when properly equipped. The first AI Missions Program launches with a flagship health mission to accelerate AI adoption in diagnostics, patient care, and system efficiency. This mission aims to deliver faster, better care for Canadians while strengthening Canada's life sciences and health innovation ecosystem. The health focus reflects areas where AI can provide immediate, tangible benefits to citizens' daily lives. Worker training and upskilling opportunities will extend from mid-career professionals to frontline workers, helping them adapt to AI-enabled workplaces and access new opportunities. This includes employer-led training programs focused on AI-enhancing skills rather than replacement scenarios.

Reinforcing Canadian Technological Sovereignty

The sovereignty pillar addresses Canada's need to control its AI destiny by building domestic capabilities in compute, cloud, connectivity, data, and talent. This foundation will enable Canadian researchers, businesses, and public institutions to build and adopt AI on Canadian terms rather than relying entirely on foreign infrastructure and expertise. A world-leading public AI supercomputer represents a cornerstone investment in sovereign compute and cloud infrastructure. The government will focus on high-performance computing that aligns with Canada's clean energy expansion, robust environmental standards, and provides tangible benefits for local communities. This approach ensures AI infrastructure development supports broader national goals around sustainability and regional economic development. Support for globally competitive Canadian champions includes improving access to growth capital, using government procurement as a strategic anchor customer, and helping Canadian AI companies access compute resources, commercialization support, and intellectual property protections. This comprehensive support system addresses common barriers that prevent Canadian startups from scaling domestically before being acquired by foreign competitors. The strategy expands Canada's AI talent base through investments in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) AI Chairs program and accelerated entry pathways for highly skilled workers through the Global Talent Stream. These measures address talent shortages that currently limit Canada's AI sector growth while building world-class research capacity. Canada currently operates three National AI Institutes: the Vector Institute in Toronto, Ontario; Mila, Québec Artificial Intelligence Institute in Montréal, Québec; and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute in Edmonton, Alberta. The strategy will likely expand this network to ensure national coverage and specialized expertise across different AI applications.

Real-World AI Applications Already Transforming Canada

AI technologies are already delivering concrete benefits across multiple sectors in Canada. Healthcare systems use AI to improve diagnostics and patient care, enabling faster and more accurate medical decisions. These applications demonstrate the immediate potential for AI to address critical challenges in Canada's healthcare system, including long emergency room wait times and specialist shortages. Agricultural sector adoption includes precision farming applications that help farmers increase crop yields while reducing costs. AI-powered systems optimize irrigation, fertilizer application, and pest management based on real-time data analysis. These applications directly support Canada's agricultural competitiveness while promoting sustainable farming practices. Transportation networks benefit from AI-powered traffic management, logistics optimization, and infrastructure maintenance systems. Smart traffic management reduces congestion and emissions in urban areas, while AI-enhanced logistics improve supply chain efficiency across Canada's vast geography. Infrastructure maintenance applications help predict and prevent failures before they occur, reducing costs and improving safety. Government services increasingly incorporate AI to improve citizen interactions and streamline administrative processes. These applications range from automated document processing to chatbots that help citizens access services more efficiently. The strategy will expand these applications while maintaining privacy and security standards.

Implementation Timeline and Economic Impact

The five-year implementation timeline reflects the urgency of Canada's AI adoption challenge. With the global AI market projected to reach US$4.8 trillion by 2033, Canada has a limited window to establish itself as a significant player rather than a technology consumer dependent on foreign systems. Economic modeling suggests the $200 billion growth target represents approximately 8% additional GDP growth over the strategy period. This growth will come from increased productivity across existing sectors rather than entirely new industries, making the targets more achievable than traditional industrial transformation programs. The 250,000 new AI-related jobs include direct AI development roles, AI-enhanced positions in traditional industries, and support roles in the expanding AI ecosystem. This broad definition recognizes that AI transformation affects virtually every sector rather than creating isolated technology clusters. Provincial and territorial governments will play crucial implementation roles, particularly in education and workforce development programs. The federal strategy provides frameworks and funding, but successful implementation requires coordination across all levels of government and collaboration with industry partners. International competitiveness metrics will track Canada's progress against peer countries, particularly the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union. The strategy includes specific benchmarks for AI adoption rates, talent retention, and domestic AI company growth to measure success objectively.

Sources: Government of Canada (canada.ca), Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Last verified: June 5, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice, consult IRCC or a qualified legal aid service for guidance on your specific situation.

About Author