TL;DR
Canada launched AI for All, a $2.3 billion national AI strategy organized around six pillars, including sovereign infrastructure, job creation and AI literacy. Prime Minister Carney made the announcement alongside a phone call with Pope Leo XIV about responsible artificial intelligence, but critics say the strategy lacks concrete security timelines.
Days after a phone call with Pope Leo XIV about the moral stakes of artificial intelligence, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stopped by Toronto on Thursday to announce exactly the national framework the pontiff has called for. A strategy branded “AI for all” takes more of a commitment 2.3 billion dollars spends more than five years. It’s Canada’s most ambitious attempt to position itself as a serious player in the global AI race.
But there is a noticeable gap in the document. For all its talk about protecting Canadians, it offers few concrete safeguards, tight timelines for new regulation and a clear implementation architecture. Pope warns governments that AI ‘demands’ disarmament.
Carney’s strategy reads more like an invitation to invest.
Six columns
The plan is organized around the six pillars first outlined in April’s spring economic update: protect Canadians and protect democracy, empower Canadians, advance shared prosperity, build a foundation for sovereign AI, expand Canadian champions, and build trusted partnerships and global alliances.
Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan SolomonWith the title of Canada’s first cabinet minister, he said the strategy reflects what citizens want. “Canadians want safe, secure and sovereign AISuleyman said in his statement.They want the best tools to build a prosperous future guided by our values.“
Job numbers are headline grabbers. Ottawa is targeting up to 90,000 AI-related jobs and job opportunities for young Canadians by 2031, plus another 250,000 jobs created by AI adoption in the broader economy. The strategy also aims to eliminate the application of business artificial intelligence its current rate is about 12 percent It will reach 60 percent by 2034.
Sovereignty over security
The strongest language in the document is reserved for sovereignty, not security. Canada currently relies heavily on external cloud infrastructure, and the strategy identifies this as a weakness. It suggests a “partner-buy” approach: build core capabilities in-country where possible, partner with trusted allies, buy from the market when necessary.
Specific measures include plans for a “world-leading” supercomputer and the expansion of 100 megawatts of sovereign data centers to serve Canadian customers. up to 1 billion dollars it will only go towards public supercomputing infrastructure.
Building on the sovereignty alliance, the Carney government has already begun to build. In February, Solomon and his German counterpart signed a joint declaration on artificial intelligence at the Munich Security Conference. Launching the Sovereign Technologies Alliance designed to reduce dependence on concentrated technology providers.
Canada will further expand this alliance, the strategy says. In parallel with Europe’s own technological sovereignty push it’s hard to miss.
The pope factor
Carney and Pope Leo spoke by phone on May 29, a few days after the pontiff’s release Magnificent Humanityhis first encyclical. Signed document on the 135th anniversary New thingsHe calls AI the industrial revolution of this generation and argues that without enforceable limits it will deepen inequality, erode human agency and concentrate power among a few firms.
According to information from both the Vatican and the Prime Ministry, the two leaders discussed the imperative that artificial intelligence should serve humanity, starting with the protection of the individual. According to reports, Carney expressed Canada’s desire to lead internationally in responsible artificial intelligence development.
Time was considered. It was in the Vatican Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah speaking alongside the cardinals at the encyclical launch suggests the Church sees AI governance as a conversation that requires technologists at the table. Carney’s subsequent strategy announcement positions Canada as the first G7 country to respond directly to the Pope’s call.
Where there are no security details
The strategy promises new consumer privacy legislation that enshrines the right to privacy and protects children’s online information. It also promises to modernize safety laws. But it does not provide any timeline for both.
Earlier this year, Canada’s Minister of Identity and Culture Mark Miller said the government was considering banning AI chatbots for children under 16. This limitation is not reflected in the strategy. Officials said it was under review and could be merged into separate online harm legislation expected later this year.
Given the global context, the omission is remarkable. The The EU is building its own sovereign AI infrastructure it also implements the AI Act, the world’s most comprehensive regulatory framework. Canada’s previous attempt at artificial intelligence legislation, the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act within Bill C-27, was widely considered inadequate and has not been reinstated.
Literacy and training
On the workforce side, the strategy introduces a national AI literacy initiative that offers free entry-level training to all Canadians. Ottawa plans to reach one million post-secondary students and train more than 3,000 educators with AI learning kits.
An additional $30 million will go to CanCode, a federal program that funds nonprofit organizations that provide digital skills training to young people. The strategy also promises to expand the Global Talent Stream permit program to speed access for highly skilled AI workers, though specific visa targets were not disclosed.
The The question of what jobs AI will createinstead of destroying, it remains controversial. The strategy’s 250,000 jobs figure lacks detailed methodology and has not yet been confirmed by independent economists.
What comes next
Inter-party pressure is already intensifying. A cross-party group of parliamentarians has called on the government to block the development of super-intelligent artificial intelligence, arguing that safeguards should come before industrial policy. This position finds an unlikely ally in the Vatican, where Pope Leo has called for the “demonstration” of artificial intelligence and dismissed just war theory as “obsolete” in the context of autonomous weapons.
Carney bolstered his government’s confidence by arguing that sovereignty and security go hand in hand. A $2.3 billion bet suggests Ottawa is serious about the first half of that equation. Whether the security architecture comes before the supercomputer will determine whether the strategy gains the moral weight the Pope demands, or just the computing power investors want.
