The Government of Canada has launched a new AI Strategy Task Force and opened a public engagement process to shape the country’s next national AI strategy — an initiative that could define how Canadian innovators, researchers, and businesses navigate the next decade of artificial intelligence.
The move builds on Canada’s first national AI strategy introduced in 2017, which positioned the country as an early global leader in responsible AI research. This next phase signals a renewed focus on commercialization, competitiveness, and ethical AI adoption across sectors — from healthcare and energy to manufacturing and public services.
A Cross-Sector Collaboration
The new Task Force brings together experts from academia, industry, and civil society to advise the federal government on how to strengthen Canada’s AI ecosystem.
Led by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), the group will provide recommendations on:
- Advancing responsible AI development and governance,
- Enabling SME adoption and commercialization of AI solutions,
- Strengthening research-to-market pathways, and
- Building public trust and workforce readiness.
Public consultations are also underway, inviting Canadians to share their views on how AI should be governed and deployed in everyday life. The engagement runs through October 2025 and is open via ISED’s consultation portal
Why It Matters for BC and Canada’s Innovation Economy
For BC’s tech community — home to a growing cluster of AI-driven SMEs, from healthtech to clean tech — this announcement lands at a pivotal time.
Programs like Scale AI, DIGITAL, and Circle Innovation’s FAST initiative have already proven that targeted collaboration between government and industry can accelerate responsible adoption.
The new strategy could expand these opportunities, helping startups access talent, funding, and data frameworks to scale their AI solutions nationally and internationally.
The Bigger Picture
Canada’s recommitment to AI isn’t just about technology — it’s about shaping a national approach to trust, transparency, and talent.
As Minister François-Philippe Champagne put it, “We want Canadians to help define what responsible AI means in our daily lives.”
With the global AI race intensifying, this task force may set the tone for how Canada balances innovation with accountability — ensuring the next wave of AI growth benefits both the economy and society.
A BC-based Centre for Applied AI
One of the key needs identified within the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy is increased support for adoption, integration, and commercialization. The existing institutes of PCAIS have taken on additional initiatives to address these needs but are not ideally positioned. A dedicated centre to address commercialization across Canada would provide an ideal mechanism to overcome the growing gap in economic, social, and global progress in AI adoption.
Circle Innovation has long been a proponent for the establishment of BC-based centre for Applied AI. BC is optimally resourced to deliver necessary coordination, common services, and support programs to enable government, public sector, academia, and non-profits to engage with private industry to accelerate AI commercialization and adoption, within a necessary framework of ethics, social benefits, and economic growth.
