After the vision, the strategy.
The Canadian government presented its AI strategy Thursday, aiming at building trust in AI at a time AI has, well, a growing trust issue.
In the U.S., multiple commencement speakers were recently booed over AI remarks. Here are examples of the words that triggered students at U.S. universities:
- Tavistock Development Company Strategic Alliances VP Glauria Caulfield: “Artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution”
- Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt: “The question is whether you will help shape artificial intelligence”
- Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta: “AI is rewriting production as we sit here”
These are not anecdotes. The Ipsos AI Monitor 2026 released this week states what anyone can observe in their daily life: “Opinions about AI are not changing as fast as the technology itself.”
Ipsos Global Trends shows a long-term decline in trust in institutions and a pervasive feeling that business leaders don’t tell the truth – Ipsos
Not to mention the vast amount of energy data centers need, raising questions about the environment as well as energy costs.
Canadians among most skeptical about AI
While Canada has outstanding researchers, Canadians are more reluctant to adopt AI.
Canadians do not trust that companies that use AI will protect their personal data, with only 27% expressing trust, the second to last (France is at 26% at the bottom of a 32-country list). And when it comes to potential benefits of AI for society, no country is less convinced than Canada that such benefits outweigh environmental costs.
Canadians also expect AI to discriminate, with Sweden being the only country ranking worse.
Canada is at the bottom of the list when people are asked whether products and services using artificial intelligence have more benefits than drawbacks: 34% agree in Canada, behind Germany (37%), the Netherlands (38%), the U.S. (38%), and France (38%). China sits at the top of the list at 85%.
In addition to having the least excited population about products and services using AI, Canada is the country where the population is the most nervous, followed by Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. Israel and Japan are the least nervous.
In fact, only 42% of Canadians expect AI to change how they currently work 5 years from now.
Populations in other G7 countries also show more concern when comparing to the rest of the world.
While companies have been highlighting efficiency gains that can be made with AI, people are speaking in terms of job security, fairness and privacy. Clearly, there is a misalignment in the narrative.
In this context, the Canadian government is pitching the trust card with its “pro-worker” Ai strategy.
Artificial Intelligence for All : The Vision
Let’s start with the vision.
In its Spring Economic update in May, the Canadian government presented its vision of AI for All seeking to achieve three goals:
- Create economic opportunities
- Strengthen public services
- Improve quality of life
Artificial Intelligence for All : A pro-worker Strategy?
On June 4, 2026, the government presented the long-awaited AI strategy, seeking to achieve outcomes such as the increase of Ai adoption by businesses, job creation, education and $200 billion of GDP gains.
The government will invest $500 million to establish a Canadian Tech Growth Fund “to provide provide growth capital to “promising” AI companies.
The government also plans to leverage $1.75 billion of federal investments and commitments announced in Budget 2025 to stimulate private sector investment in venture capital.
The reaction to Canada’s new AI strategy has been mixed so far: business and some tech voices welcomed the broad direction, while opposition parties, labour, and media/policy critics said it lacks specifics on safety, privacy, jobs, and copyright
For La Presse journalist Alain McKenna, the strategy is “ambitious in form, but modest in substance“.
