Global AI Governance Law and Policy: Canada

This article is part of a series on global AI governance law and policy.

Despite its population of just over 41 million, Canada has a strong track record of developing AI capabilities and talent. The country hosts numerous impactful startup accelerators, world-class researchers and universities dedicated to fostering a vibrant AI culture. Notably, it is home to several of the "godfathers of AI," including Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, who won the Turing Award in 2018 for their formative research on deep learning along with Yann LeCun. In October 2024, Hinton was also awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics, further cementing Canada’s leadership in AI.

In 2017, Canada became the first country to launch an AI strategy, seeking to understand the implications and opportunities these powerful technologies can have on its economy and society. A cornerstone of the Pan-Canadian AI strategy is the work led by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. In close partnership with world-class national AI research institutes the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, Vector Institute and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, the vision of the AI strategy is to make Canada one of the world's most vibrant AI ecosystems.

Recognizing Canada's potential for technological advancement, the federal government, provincial governments, civil society organizations and industry have been active in seeking to create the necessary frameworks within which innovation can flourish safely and responsibly.

History and context

The federal government sets national AI standards and policies, while provinces handle localized issues like data privacy. In 2017, the federal government launched the first phase of its Pan-Canadian AI Strategy with a CAD125 million investment focusing on three pillars: