Carney launches National Council on Artificial Intelligence to steer AI for All

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday launched the Prime Minister’s National Council on Artificial Intelligence, a new advisory body meant to give Ottawa independent, practical advice as the federal AI for All strategy rolls out.

According to a Prime Minister’s Office release, the council will convene public and private stakeholders to advise on accelerating AI adoption, fostering Canadian national champions, building sovereign AI infrastructure, and making AI safer while protecting democracy. Named members include AI researchers Yoshua Bengio, Ajay Agrawal, Sanja Fidler and Gillian Hadfield; Cloudflare co-founder Michelle Zatlyn; Element AI alumna Valérie Pisano; former national security adviser Jody Thomas; National Bank’s Louis Vachon; and Senator Thomas Pitfield, with Patrick Pichette serving ex officio.

Carney said prosperity and sovereignty in the AI era belong to countries that can build, adopt and govern the technology on their own terms. The release ties the council to AI for All targets that include an additional $200 billion of economic growth, 250,000 new AI-related jobs over five years, and raising AI adoption from just over 12 per cent to 60 per cent by 2034, plus up to 90,000 AI-related jobs and placements for young Canadians. A small Privy Council Office team will support the council; ministers and departments stay accountable for policy decisions.

The announcement follows June’s AI for All strategy launch and last month’s creation of Digital Transformation Canada, which is meant to modernise federal service delivery and use government procurement to help Canadian digital and AI firms scale.

Sources: Prime Minister of Canada.