Canada unveils AI strategy, targets 250,000 jobs and C$200 billion growth

Canada put a price tag and a deadline on its AI ambitions on Wednesday, unveiling “AI for all” in Toronto with a promise to create 250,000 jobs by 2031 and raise GDP by 3%, a gain officials say could unlock nearly C$200 billion in added economic activity. The question now is not whether Ottawa wants to compete with the United States, Europe and China, but whether this package can produce measurable industrial results rather than a marketing banner for the global AI race.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the strategy at Toronto General Hospital, a symbolic choice that cast artificial intelligence as a practical tool for health care, finance, manufacturing, logistics and public services rather than a narrow Silicon Valley export. The plan includes a C$500 million Canadian Tech Growth Fund to help domestic AI firms close the capital gap with American rivals, plus another C$500 million through the Business Development Bank of Canada to help small and medium-sized businesses buy and deploy AI tools. Reuters reported the broader package also includes more than C$2 billion for AI literacy and adoption.

The government is also trying to define how success will be measured. Officials say they want to lift AI use among Canadian businesses from about 12% in 2025 to 60% by 2034, a jump that would be a clearer indicator than headline job targets alone. The strategy builds on a national consultation that drew more than 11,000 submissions from workers, entrepreneurs, researchers, students, community leaders, First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders, arts and culture organizations, labour groups and environmental groups. It also extends earlier federal efforts, including the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy first launched in 2017 and a federal sovereign AI supercomputing initiative launched on April 15, 2026.

Ottawa says the economic base is already there to support the push. Canada’s digital sector employs about 800,000 workers and contributes more than C$140 billion to GDP, while more than 150,000 innovators at more than 3,500 companies are building AI solutions and have raised more than C$37 billion in venture capital. The new strategy says it will add up to 90,000 AI-related jobs and work-placement opportunities for young Canadians by 2031, while backing research fellowships, more AI chairs, an accelerated immigration path for highly skilled workers and support for large-scale Canadian data centres.

The plan is also a sovereignty play. Ottawa wants to reduce dependence on foreign AI providers and foreign-controlled infrastructure, and it tied the strategy to privacy reform aimed at protecting children’s data, fighting deepfakes and giving consumers more control over personal information. CUPE criticized the package for favoring Big Tech and commercialization over workers and the public, underscoring the political risk in a strategy that promises both expansion and restraint. Canada is betting it can do both at once.