The federal government's long-awaited national AI strategy, released Thursday, says Canada has "a major adoption gap."

It says less than 15 per cent of Canadian businesses use AI to produce goods or services, while Canada ranks behind many other countries in both AI training and literacy and in public trust in AI systems.

Closing the gap in training and literacy "is the foundation on which everything else depends," the strategy says.

It says a new literacy initiative will offer entry-level AI training to all Canadians and the government will ensure "all post-secondary students have access to trusted AI agents."

The strategy focuses on trust in AI as a key factor.

The government has promised already to introduce privacy and online harms bills to tackle some of Canadians' fears about technology.

The strategy promises new legal tools to "ensure interactions with chatbots are safe." It also says legislation will "ensure that Canadians' personal information is not used inappropriately, including for surveillance pricing."

The government says it will invest an additional $50 million in Canada's AI safety institute, create a certification program for trustworthy AI and "work on AI transparency, including capabilities like watermarking of AI-generated content."

The strategy promises to create up to 90,000 AI-related jobs and pledges a "pro-worker" approach.

"This means technology is designed to augment human expertise rather than displace it, helping workers move into higher-value roles while delivering the productivity gains that strengthen Canadian competitiveness," the strategy says.

The strategy says the government will put $500 million toward expanding and enhancing the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative "to accelerate adoption and commercialization of AI across the country."

While the strategy talks a lot about sovereignty, it does not include new funding for compute infrastructure and instead leans on $2 billion in previously announced investments.

"Canadian researchers train models on foreign cloud platforms. Canadian companies store sensitive data in foreign jurisdictions. Government operations rely on infrastructure Canada does not own. And the country's best AI talent faces constant recruitment pressure from abroad. The risks are not abstract," the strategy says.

It says the federal government will address these risks by "building its key sovereign capabilities domestically whenever possible, while partnering with trusted allies or buying existing market solutions when appropriate."

The strategy also promises a new program to "advance targeted, high-impact projects that deliver significant public good and demonstrate meaningful improvements in Canadians' lives." The first $200 million investment will be focused on improving health outcomes.

The strategy also looks to build on Canada's existing clout in AI research, saying the government will "strengthen our network of national AI institutes and increase the Canada CIFAR AI Chairs program from 130 to nearly 200 researchers."

The government is also putting $500 million toward establishing a Canadian Tech Growth Fund. It says the fund "will provide flexible growth capital and investment support, and enable the federal government, at times, to take equity stakes in the most promising Canadian AI firms."

The strategy also points to Ottawa's work on building international agreements related to AI. It promises to expand a sovereign technology alliance it launched with Germany in February.

"A coalition of aligned democracies, who pool research, talent, compute, and procurement power, would offer a credible alternative to the dominant market actors that increasingly define the global AI landscape. Canada is uniquely positioned to lead such an alliance -- with proven and emerging capabilities that complement and reinforce those of key middle powers," it said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2026.