Canada’s new AI strategy, named AI for All, puts tech sovereignty at the centre as the government moves to reduce reliance on foreign cloud and AI providers.
The Canada AI strategy, published on 4 June 2026, sets goals for Canadians to “adopt, build and govern AI on their own terms.” Its release came days after the European Commission launched its Technological Sovereignty Package, introducing legislation aimed at reducing US Big Tech’s hold over European cloud and AI infrastructure.
What the Canada AI strategy covers
The document identifies several weaknesses it aims to address. The government describes sovereign compute capacity as “nascent,” with Canadian organisations heavily dependent on foreign infrastructure for economic, scientific, and public-sector activity. GPU chip fabrication sits “almost entirely offshore.” Only 12% of Canadian businesses currently use AI, well behind Nordic counterparts where adoption runs between 29% and 42%.
The strategy’s six pillars are: safety and democracy protections; AI skills and literacy for all Canadians; accelerated adoption across the economy; sovereign compute infrastructure; scaling Canadian AI champions; and forging trusted international alliances.
Infrastructure targets and economic projections
On infrastructure, the government commits to building a world-leading supercomputer by 2031 and growing sovereign cloud capacity. These plans mirror the EU’s Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) proposals, published the same week. Specific targets include raising business AI adoption from 12% today to 60% by 2034, creating up to 250,000 new jobs through AI by 2031, and generating nearly $200bn in GDP gains from labour productivity improvements.
Priority sectors for investment include health and life sciences, energy and natural resources, transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing and robotics.
The sovereignty framing
The strategy’s language directly references current political pressures. “We will strengthen Canadian sovereignty at a time when it is being deeply challenged,” the document states, a reference to tense relations with the United States under the Trump administration.
“Too much Canadian innovation is captured and scaled elsewhere,” it continues. “In an era where prosperity, resilience and sovereignty increasingly depend on the ability to build and govern AI on national terms, these are vulnerabilities Canada cannot leave unaddressed.”
Canada says it has already signed 20 new economic and defence international partnerships in the past year, 11 of which advance AI cooperation. The government plans to build a strategic multilateral alliance to move “from reliance to resilience” in AI and technology capabilities.
For citizens, the AI for All strategy commits to modernising privacy legislation, introducing online safety laws, and providing free AI literacy training to one million entry-level post-secondary students.
Canada’s AI strategy and the EU’s sovereignty package, both released this week, are the latest signs that reducing dependence on US technology providers has moved from political discussion to active legislation on both sides of the Atlantic.