OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney has outlined the broad contours of a new approach to artificial intelligence in Canada, shifting away from sweeping regulation and toward economic growth and adoption — but many of the details of the government’s AI policy remain undefined.
The change in tone follows a turning point earlier this year at the Paris AI Action Summit, where then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and other world leaders listened as U.S. Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized efforts to regulate artificial intelligence.
That moment signalled a broader global shift in attitudes toward AI governance, one that reached Canada a month later when Carney succeeded Trudeau and began charting a different course.
Under the Trudeau government, then-industry minister François-Philippe Champagne had promoted the idea that Canada could become one of the first countries to legislate comprehensive AI regulation. But Carney’s appointment of Evan Solomon as Canada’s first Artificial Intelligence minister marked a departure.
Solomon has said the government will not “over-index” on regulation, arguing Canada should not pursue strict rules if major powers like the United States and China are unwilling to do the same.
Within a year, Ottawa’s focus has moved from containing AI risks to accelerating adoption and capturing economic opportunities, particularly within the federal public service.
At the G7 meeting of industry, digital and technology ministers in Montreal earlier this month, Solomon announced new AI co-operation agreements with Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union. He said Canada’s approach remains unchanged, even as it deepens ties with Europe, which has taken a more regulatory path.
“Our position is exactly where we have been,” Solomon told The Canadian Press. “There is a sweet spot here between what I thought was over-regulation by the EU, constraining innovation, and what we see in the United States and China.”
Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president of the European Commission for technological sovereignty, security and democracy, said Canada and the EU share a “human-centric” vision for AI grounded in democratic values.
“It has to be based on our democratic values,” she said. “That’s why it’s important that we are now working together.”
Virkkunen acknowledged criticism that Europe’s approach may overregulate innovation but said the EU remains committed to its AI Act while seeking to cut red tape and implement the law in a more innovation-friendly way.
Both Solomon and Virkkunen suggested U.S. opposition to AI regulation is more nuanced, pointing to state-level efforts. But days later, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring states from regulating AI.
Asked how Canada fits between the U.S. and Europe, Virkkunen said Ottawa will ultimately decide its own path. “Canada will, of course, decide in the coming months … what kind of rules Canada would like to set,” she said.
Solomon has said he plans to introduce new privacy legislation when Parliament returns from its holiday break. As industry minister, Champagne had tabled Bill C-27, which would have modernized private-sector privacy laws and imposed obligations on so-called high-impact AI systems.
Solomon said he intends to revive the privacy portions of that bill, but not its broad AI regulatory framework.
“This is not going to be the exact same piece of legislation as C-27 was,” he said, adding that it will include protections for children and measures to combat deepfakes.
He has floated ideas such as age restrictions for chatbot use and a right to delete deepfake content, but has declined to provide specifics.
“We want some ways to protect citizens. We also want ways to have some enforcement,” Solomon said.
Heidi Tworek, a professor of history and public policy at the University of British Columbia, said passing regulation will be difficult in the current political climate shaped by the Trump administration.
“But also, this government doesn’t seem to be as focused on doing that because it’s much more concerned about the innovation piece,” she said.
Tworek said Carney has framed AI primarily as an engine for commercial growth, a focus she sees reflected in the industry-heavy task force Solomon assembled to advise on updating Canada’s national AI strategy.
She added that Carney’s emphasis on “sovereign AI” — developing and controlling AI systems within Canada’s borders — aligns with his broader push for national infrastructure projects.
Paul Samson, president of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, said Carney is looking to AI as a way to boost Canada’s sluggish productivity.
“He needs economic growth and productivity growth, and AI is an area that can deliver some of that,” Samson said.
Mark Daley, professor and chief AI officer at Western University, said appointing a dedicated AI minister was “absolutely essential” and sends a strong signal domestically and internationally that AI is a national priority.
“AI and compute are nation-building infrastructure platforms,” Daley said. “This is the railroad of the twenty-first century.”
Still, Carney has yet to commit major new public spending to his AI vision.
The Trudeau government’s 2024 budget set aside $2.4 billion for AI, largely aimed at boosting computing capacity and building sovereign AI infrastructure. Carney’s first budget in fall 2025 included $925.6 million for sovereign AI compute, but most of that — about $800 million — came from previously allocated funds.
Carney has also spoken about creating a “sovereign cloud” governed by Canadian laws, but none of the major projects announced so far are focused on building such infrastructure.
Whether funding levels will change when Solomon unveils an updated national AI strategy in the new year remains unclear.
Samson said many countries would welcome Canada taking a stronger role in international AI governance, such as efforts to prevent AI systems from being linked to nuclear weapons.
But he said Ottawa is cautious about stepping forward because of U.S. politics and the influence of major American technology firms.
“There’s not many countries that can kind of facilitate some of these international conversations,” Samson said, adding that representatives from non-G7 nations and international organizations have privately urged Canada to act as a catalyst.
For now, Carney has sketched a new direction for AI in Canada — one centred on growth, sovereignty and adoption — but the precise balance between innovation, investment and regulation remains to be defined.