Ottawa planning ‘refreshed’ AI strategy, data protection bill

MONTREAL – The federal government is putting together a task force to guide its next steps on artificial intelligence, and Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon is promising an update to the government’s AI strategy.

Solomon told the All In artificial intelligence conference in Montreal on Wednesday that the “refreshed” strategy will be tabled later this year, “almost two years ahead of schedule.”

He said Canada can’t afford to wait. 

“We need to update and move quickly,” he said in a keynote speech at the start of the conference.

The task force will include about 20 representatives from industry, academia and civil society. The government says it won’t reveal the membership until later this week.

Solomon said task force members are being asked to consult with their networks, suggest “bold, practical” ideas and report back to him in November.

The group will look at various topics related to AI, including research, adoption, commercialization, investment, infrastructure, skills, and safety and security. The government is also planning to solicit input from the public.

Canada was the first country to launch a national AI strategy, which the government updated in 2022. The strategy focuses on commercialization, the development and adoption of AI standards, talent and research.

Solomon also teased a “major quantum initiative” coming in October to ensure both quantum computing talent and intellectual property stay in the country.

“The goal here is not to be the farm team for someone else’s economy. We’re not growing companies only to have someone buy it up and move,” he said.

Solomon called digital sovereignty “the most pressing policy and democratic issue of our time” and stressed the importance of Canada having its own “digital economy that someone else can’t decide to turn off.”

Solomon said the federal government’s recent focus on major projects extends to artificial intelligence. He compared current conversations on Canada’s AI framework to the way earlier generations spoke about a national railroad or highway.

“We have to include a digital infrastructure to build the economy of the future,” he said.

Solomon also discussed the need for public trust in AI and government investment in Canadian-made artificial intelligence tech.

After his speech Wednesday morning, the minister participated in a panel with Cohere, a Toronto-based firm that last month signed an agreement with Ottawa to work on AI in the public service.

He said his government will address concerns about AI by focusing on privacy reform and modernizing Canada’s 25-year-old privacy law.

“We’re going to include protections for consumers who are concerned about things like deep fakes and protection for children, because that’s a big, big issue. And we’re going to set clear standards for the use of data so innovators have clarity to unlock investment,” Solomon said.

“Canadians aren’t going to embrace AI if they fear deepfakes, if they fear scams, if someone’s talking only about job losses and displacement.”

He told reporters at a press conference following the panel that Canadians are concerned about AI’s impacts on health, financial and personal data.

Solomon said it’s a “core principle” for the government that sensitive data must be subject to Canadian law.

— with files from Craig Lord in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2025.