Tuesday’s spring economic update gave the most clear hints yet on the federal government’s priorities for its long-promised new national artificial intelligence strategy, which Ottawa says is coming “shortly.”
A section of the fiscal update outlines six “pillars” of the strategy that are organized under a unifying vision of “artificial intelligence for all.”
While they don’t include specific details about how they will be achieved or come with proposed funding, the pillars broadly outline how the government plans to address the myriad issues surrounding AI, from safety to accelerated adoption to digital sovereignty.
At the top of the list is “protecting Canadians and safeguarding our democracy,” which acknowledges that the strategy must contend with a Canadian public that has expressed deep skepticism about AI and its growing prominence.
“AI will only deliver on its promise if Canadians trust it,” the economic statement says. “That requires modern privacy and online safety laws, strong national AI safety capabilities, and secure government systems.”
A spokesperson for AI Minister Evan Solomon’s office told Global News that the reference to “modern privacy” laws includes protections for copyright and intellectual property, as well as data sovereignty, that will be covered in forthcoming legislation to update the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
The spring economic statement “isn’t detailing each aspect of the AI strategy as it will be released shortly,” spokesperson Sonia Ouslis said in an email.
Experts speaking with Global News this month have expressed concern that, in his first year as AI minister, Solomon has prioritized the potential for AI adoption and growing the Canadian AI industry over the associated safety risks posed by the technology and products like AI chatbots.
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Sonja Solomun, deputy director of the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University, said placing safety and trust as the first pillar shows a “discernible shift” in priorities.
“I think AI will only earn public trust if that safety comes first, and I think that’s the shift in recognition that we’re seeing, not as an afterthought to economic growth,” she said in an interview Wednesday.
“I think the language in the statement around the pillars is really right, but implementation is everything.”
The other five pillars outlined in the economic update are:
- “Empowering Canadians” — providing access to AI education and skills training and “representing and including Canadian voices, languages and culture”;
- “Powering AI adoption for shared prosperity” — supporting “accelerated adoption among small- and -medium-sized enterprises” and within the public service, while promising “pro-worker, industrial AI technologies”;
- “Building the Canadian sovereign AI foundation” — supporting the building of “sovereign compute infrastructure at scale” that will be “under Canadian governance,” while growing the Canadian AI research and talent pool;
- “Scaling Canadian champions” — unlocking “growth capital” and leveraging government as a “strategic anchor customer” to help scale “great AI companies in Canada”; and
- “Building trusted partnerships and global alliances — by working with “a variety” of partners, Ottawa will seek to “align standards, co-invest in innovation, and help Canadian companies access global markets” while shaping an AI ecosystem “anchored in democratic values.”
Solomun said seeing the overall vision for the AI strategy was “really encouraging,” but noted the full details are “long overdue.”
She said the language in the economic statement still had notable omissions, particularly around regulations for AI chatbots and transparency for how the government will hold AI companies accountable.
Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller has promised an updated online harms bill will cover AI chatbots as well as social media, particularly surrounding protections for children, but has not said when that legislation will be introduced.
“We’re working on it,” he told reporters Wednesday outside the Liberal caucus meeting in Ottawa when asked if the bill will be ready this spring.
“I’m not going to guarantee anything,” he continued. “I can guarantee you that we will be taking care of making sure kids are kept safe. That’s for sure. The timing of an introduction of a bill isn’t something I’ll be sharing with you today.”
Solomun noted Canada is the only G7 country without some form of modern online harms legislation.
She added that young people should be at the centre of the AI strategy and any related legislation, both in terms of harms protection and ensuring they benefit from AI as well.
“Obviously, AI adoption and safety is going to affect young people, young Canadians, way more than any other groups,” she said.
“Their voices need to be front and centre in that strategy and trust is going to really depend … on that particular group.”
Solomun added she also wants to see details on climate sustainability plans as Canada rapidly scales up massive energy-expending data centres.
The pillar on “building the Canadian sovereign AI foundation” notes infrastructure will be “sustainable” as well as “resilient.”
“There’s no sort of real framework for what the environmental costs of that growth are,” she said. “I think that’s a major misstep.”
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