AI For All: Canada Releases National Artificial Intelligence Strategy

On June 4, 2026, Canada released its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy titled “AI for All” (the Strategy). The Strategy aims to encourage and support the adoption of AI across Canadian businesses and public services, strengthen Canadian controlled AI-infrastructure and protect Canadians.

The Strategy outlines six pillars that serve as the foundation of Canada’s approach to AI. Each pillar is accompanied by a set of actions designed to advance its objectives. A summary of the six pillars and some of the corresponding initiatives are outlined below:

1. Protecting Canadians and Safeguarding Democracy: The foundation of this pillar is trust and involves Canada actively safeguarding the rights of citizens through modernizing privacy legislation and introducing online safety laws.
2. Empowering Canadians: This pillar involves increasing access to AI training and education for all Canadians, through initiatives such as ensuring all post-secondary students have access to trusted AI agents.
3. Powering Shared Prosperity:  This pillar involves accelerating AI adoption across Canadian small and medium sized businesses, supporting AI deployment in priority sectors such as healthcare and accelerating the procurement and delivery of AI solutions across the federal government.
4. Building the Canadian Sovereign AI Foundation: This pillar involves Canada adopting a “build-partner-buy” approach to building its AI infrastructure which includes building its key sovereign capabilities, such as data centres and cloud services, domestically whenever possible.
5. Scaling Canadian Champions: This pillar focuses on supporting Canada’s leading AI companies by increasing access to funding and positioning the government as a key customer to enable faster growth.  One initiative under this pillar is the creation of a $500 million Canadian Tech Growth Fund, designed to provide growth capital and investment support to Canadian AI firms.
6. Building Trusted Partnerships and Global Alliances:  This pillar focuses on building trusted international partnerships to develop shared AI standards, support innovation and help Canadian AI companies expand into global markets. It includes initiatives such as expanding the Canada-Germany Sovereign Technology Alliance to encourage the use of common AI models, shared digital infrastructure, access capital and joint research among trusted allies.

The Strategy notes that the implementation of the pillars must adapt to technological, social and geopolitical forces. As a result, a commitment to dynamism is part of the Strategy.

The full Strategy is available here.

Summary By: Victoria Di Felice