The Carney government is implementing an ambitious AI and quantum computing strategy in 2026, positioning Canada as a global hub for responsible AI development and quantum technology commercialization through a combination of research investment, talent attraction, regulatory leadership, and international partnership. Canada’s AI ecosystem has deep academic roots: the Vector Institute in Toronto, MILA (the Quebec AI Institute) in Montreal, and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute in Edmonton represent world-leading research concentrations that have produced many of the foundational advances in deep learning – including the work of Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, and their collaborators – that underpins contemporary AI. The Carney government’s strategy builds on this academic foundation by investing in the infrastructure and incentive environment needed to retain AI talent in Canada, attract international AI companies to locate significant operations in Canadian cities, and develop the Canadian companies that can commercialize AI research into globally competitive products and services. The federal government’s $2.4 billion AI investment announced in the 2024 Budget has been followed in 2026 by additional commitments focused on compute infrastructure – the high-performance GPU clusters and data center capacity that AI research and development require at scale – and on expanding the AI Safety Institute that Canada established in parallel with similar bodies in the UK, US, and EU.

Canada’s quantum computing ecosystem is less globally prominent than its AI research reputation but is developing rapidly around academic centers at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing, the University of Toronto, and the Sherbrooke quantum research cluster in Quebec. The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, also in Waterloo, provides a world-class theoretical physics environment that connects to quantum computing development through both personnel and intellectual cross-pollination. Canadian quantum companies including D-Wave, which pioneered quantum annealing computers, and a growing ecosystem of startups working on photonic, ion trap, and superconducting qubit approaches, benefit from Canada’s deep academic talent pool and from government support through the National Quantum Strategy’s funding programs. The G7 Evian summit provided Carney with a platform to advance international AI governance discussions – Canada has been an active proponent of the Hiroshima AI Process and the Global Partnership on AI – and to position Canadian regulatory experience as a model for other G7 members grappling with how to govern rapidly advancing AI systems in ways that allow beneficial innovation while managing the safety, security, and social risks that powerful AI creates. The G7 Evian communique’s AI section reflected significant Canadian input on the principles and institutional mechanisms for international AI cooperation that the 2027 G7 under Canadian presidency will have the opportunity to advance further.