Prime Minister Mark Carney’s initial budget suggests allocating over $1 billion in the next five years to enhance Canada’s artificial intelligence and quantum computing sectors, and to integrate AI technology more extensively within federal government operations.
The 2025 budget, presented on Tuesday by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, outlines a plan to invest $925.6 million over the next five years in establishing a significant “sovereign” public AI infrastructure. Of this investment, $800 million will be sourced from funds designated in the previous federal budget, which had earmarked a total of $2 billion to bolster domestic AI computing capabilities and construct public supercomputing infrastructure.
This funding will be utilized to enhance AI computing accessibility, facilitate access to sovereign AI computing resources for both public and private research, and ensure Canada’s competitiveness in a secure and sovereign environment on a global scale.
Since assuming office, Carney has advocated for Canada to embrace AI technology and develop a sovereign Canadian cloud to safeguard sensitive data by keeping it within the country’s jurisdiction and under Canadian regulations.
Regarding quantum technology, the government plans to allocate $334.3 million over five years to support various government entities in anchoring quantum technology firms in Canada and facilitating the adoption of this technology in defense-related sectors and industries.
The budget also introduces several smaller AI initiatives, including collaborations with industry to identify promising AI infrastructure projects and establish memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with these projects. Notably, the government has already partnered with a Canadian AI company, Cohere, to explore deploying AI technology to enhance public services and bolster Canada’s commercial AI capabilities.
Furthermore, the budget hints at potential new AI incentives and support measures, with plans to develop a fresh AI strategy by the year’s end. The strategy’s unveiling timeline remains unspecified at this point.
The federal government’s budget also outlines strategies to embed AI technology within its operations to enhance productivity and service quality. Plans include establishing an Office of Digital Transformation to identify, implement, and scale technological solutions across the government, offering significant opportunities for local innovators.
Shared Services Canada (SSC), in collaboration with the Department of National Defence and the Communications Security Establishment, will develop an AI tool tailored for Canadian use, to be deployed across federal agencies. The budget also highlights various departments and agencies’ efforts to leverage AI technology to streamline workflows, reduce manual tasks, and optimize service delivery, aiming to achieve cost savings and operational efficiencies.
Moreover, the budget allocates $25 million over six years, starting this year, to Statistics Canada to launch the Artificial Intelligence and Technology Measurement Program (TechStat), aimed at tracking AI usage by organizations and understanding its societal impact in Canada.