While the strategy is built on building trust, creating opportunity, and reinforcing Canadian sovereignty, Canadians still feel nervous about AI
Canada's new national artificial intelligence strategy is set to promise 250,000 jobs, $200 billion in economic growth, and a sweeping overhaul of how the technology is adopted, regulated, and governed. But delivering on that ambition will require buy-in from employers navigating an already strained labour market.
Prime Minister Mark Carney launched AI for All on Thursday, positioning it as a five-year plan to close the gap between Canada's recognized AI research talent and its sluggish adoption rate. The country's current AI adoption sits at just over 12 per cent, a figure the strategy aims to push to 60 per cent by 2034. With the global AI market projected to reach US$4.8 trillion by 2033, the federal government is framing inaction as the bigger risk.
"AI is here. The question is whether it will improve the lives of all Canadians or benefit only a few," Carney said in a press release. "AI can shorten our emergency room wait times and make a small business more competitive, if it is governed by Canadian values with a clear goal of improving the lives of all Canadians ... We will build trust so that all Canadians are empowered to use this technology safely and with confidence.
According to the government, the strategy is built on three pillars: building trust, creating opportunity, and reinforcing Canadian sovereignty. On the trust front, the government plans to modernize legislative frameworks to address deepfakes, surveillance pricing, and online safety for social media and chatbot users. It will also expand the Canadian AI Safety Institute's capacity to evaluate AI models.
The strategy also commits to up to 90,000 AI-related jobs and work placement opportunities for young Canadians, a National AI Literacy Initiative targeting one million entry-level post-secondary students, and training for more than 3,000 educators. It also pledges upskilling programs for mid-career professionals and frontline workers adapting to AI-enabled workplaces, including employer-led training on AI-enhancing skills.
But it's that last point, employer-led training, signals that the federal government expects businesses to carry a meaningful share of the workforce development burden. How that expectation translates into funding, tax incentives, or regulatory requirements remains unclear. The strategy references support for small and medium-sized businesses adopting AI in priority sectors like health, energy, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and robotics, but specifics on the mechanisms are thin.
Yet Canadians still remain particularly cautious about the emerging technology, despite it becoming a workplace norm. According to the Ipsos AI Monitor 2026 — a 32-country survey of 23,532 adults conducted between March and April 2026 — Canada ranks among the world's most nervous nations about AI. Sixty-seven per cent of Canadians said AI makes them nervous — one of the highest rates globally. Just 37 per cent believe it has more benefits than drawbacks, near the bottom of all 32 countries surveyed. Only 26 per cent think AI will improve the Canadian job market.
The productivity picture is equally sobering. While 62 per cent of workers globally said AI saved them time in the past 12 months, Canada's figure was just 46 per cent — well below average. Only 20 per cent of Canadian workers believe AI will improve their job. And just 18 per cent are comfortable with AI screening job applicants — one of the survey's lowest rates globally, despite 53 per cent admitting they use AI tools anyway.
But the government insists the strategy will encourage additional supports for workers.
"As AI is changing the future of work, we are supporting workers to adapt with it," said.Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu. "We're equipping workers with the tools they need to strengthen their skills and helping them seize new opportunities in an AI-enabled economy."
On sovereignty, the strategy calls for building a public AI supercomputer and investing in Canadian compute and cloud infrastructure aligned with the country's clean energy goals. It also aims to support homegrown AI companies through improved access to growth capital, government procurement as an anchor customer, and intellectual property protections. The talent pipeline gets a boost through expanded funding for the CIFAR AI Chairs program and faster entry pathways for skilled workers via the Global Talent Stream.
"Canada's new AI for All Strategy will give people the confidence to use AI safely, help businesses adopt it, and ensure more of the value is created here at home," said Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation.
The strategy emerged from national consultations that drew more than 11,000 submissions and input from a 28-member expert task force spanning industry, academia, unions, and community groups. Since March 2025, Canada has also signed AI-related agreements with 12 countries and the European Union, building what the government describes as a foundation for safe development and deployment of AI technologies.
Additional reporting by Jeffrey R. Smith
