Canada’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy
The Right Honourable Mark Carney the Prime Minister and The Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario unveiled the eagerly-awaited Canada’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, which promises over $2.3 billion for training, adoption and start-ups. We were delighted to see health and life sciences highlighted as a priority sector due to the strengths we already have in this sector.
Key measures include:
$500 million to establish the Canadian Tech Growth Fund to help close the scale-up capital gap facing Canada’s most promising AI companies.
$500 million to expand and enhance the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative delivered through Regional Development Agencies to accelerate adoption and commercialization of AI across the country – several OBIO® members have been funded through this initiative.
$100 million to launch the Health Sector Data Space, in partnership with the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
Leveraging $1.75 billion of federal investments and commitments announced in Budget 2025 to stimulate private sector investment in venture capital and address access to capital gaps for innovative companies, including those in AI.
OBIO® will continue to engage with government as the strategy is implemented and keep our members informed of upcoming opportunities.