Since 2017, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) has been working with its partners at Canada’s three National AI Institutes (Amii in Edmonton, Mila in Montréal and the Vector Institute in Toronto) to deliver the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, Canada’s national strategy to advance responsible AI research, training, commercialization and adoption.
A recent report by Deloitte Canada’s AI Institute, titled Impact and Opportunities: Canada’s National AI Ecosystem Report 2023, outlines the ways in which the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy has created significant social and economic benefits for Canada, with our AI sector outperforming that of many G7 peers. The report also details necessary steps that Canadian companies must take to seize on this moment of opportunity for this globally transformative technology.
Among the highlights of the report, available at cifar.ca:
Canada ranked
1st
in the five-year average year-over-year (YoY) growth rate in AI talent concentration compared to other G7 nations.
The number of AI patents filed nationally across Canada rose by
57%
in 2022-23, placing Canada second among G7 nations in terms of growth.
Canada also leads the world in terms of bringing more women into AI roles, achieving the highest YoY percentage change in female AI talent globally since 2019, including
67%
in 2022 alone.
Canadian AI researchers produced more AI publications per capita in 2022 than any other G7 nation.
The report argues that Canada must sustain and accelerate Canada’s AI advantage through a multi-pronged approach that includes:
- Continuing to attract and grow world-leading talent;
- Strengthening AI fluency within Canada’s businesses, public sector, and communities;
- Investing in scalable AI opportunities;
- Continuing to lead global discussions around AI governance;
- Identifying strong use cases that drive value; and
- Leveraging CIFAR and Canada’s National AI Institutes to drive responsible AI development and use.
Says Elissa Strome, Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy at CIFAR, “This report shows that since the launch of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy six years ago, Canada has experienced tremendous growth in our AI sector. This is the result of Canada’s long-standing leadership and investments in the advances and skills that make these new opportunities possible.”
Learn from some of the world’s leading researchers about the role of AI in your daily life today, and where it’s going.
Offered by CIFAR through the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, Destination AI / Objectif IA is a free online course available in both French and English. The course requires less than 5 hours to complete, is self-paced, and offers a certificate upon successful completion.
Go behind the scenes of an artificial intelligence project and get familiar with concepts like deep learning, machine learning, and generative AI. This course is for anyone who wants to know more about what artificial intelligence is, how it works, and how it can affect us all.
Learn from some of the world’s leading researchers about the role of AI in your daily life today, and where it’s going by enrolling in the online course.
