Canada's $2B AI Investment: What Your Businesses Need to Know.

The Canadian government just launched a new national AI strategy with the primary goal to help more businesses adopt AI and turn Canada's research expertise into economic growth.

The government is setting out to increase AI adoption in businesses from 12% to 60% by 2034.

If you're a business owner, the real question is: what does this actually mean for me?

The Challenge Is Adoption.

Canada has some of the most expertise in AI, from labs like Amii (here in Edmonton), Mila in Montreal, and the Vector Institute in Toronto. We have all the expertise, but people and businesses aren't using AI.

I don't mean asking ChatGPT what the weather is or asking it to rewrite you an email. I mean using AI to actually improve your business in a meaningful way.

At the crux of it, that's what this strategy is really trying to solve. The focus is on helping businesses put existing technology to work.

The Focus Is on Small and Mid-Sized Businesses.

So what is this strategy actually offering businesses? They're investing in training, adoption programs, and industry-specific initiatives across healthcare, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and public services, all to help with execution. And that's what we see every day.

We've dug through some additional information and found how they'll be helping:

Funding and Financing

• $500 million through BDC to help small and medium-sized businesses pay for AI projects, software, and implementation.
• $500 million for regional AI programs that help businesses across Canada find practical ways to use AI and bring new AI products to market.
• $700 million for Canadian AI infrastructure, giving businesses access to affordable computing power in Canada instead of relying on expensive foreign cloud providers.
• $130 million to help AI startups and entrepreneurs turn ideas into real businesses and commercial products.
• $159 million to help businesses protect and commercialise their ideas, including patents, intellectual property, and other valuable business assets.

Tax Incentives

Businesses investing in AI, technology, and productivity improvements may qualify for tax credits and deductions that reduce the overall cost of those investments.

Talent and Hiring Support

• Funding to create up to 90,000 AI-related jobs, internships, and work placements for students and young professionals.
• Businesses will have more opportunities to hire workers with AI skills, often through government-supported programs that help offset hiring and training costs.

Healthcare Is Leading the Way.

The strategy identifies healthcare as the first major "AI mission." The focus is on improving diagnostics, patient care, and operational efficiency across the healthcare system. Many research organisations already have the capabilities for this, but the challenge is integrating them into practical business workflows.

Infrastructure Matters More Than Most People Realise.

Before AI can make meaningful impact, the government needs to invest in infrastructure — and that's exactly what they're doing. They're investing in domestic computing resources and data hosting capabilities. That sounds technical, but simply put, it's making sure our resources are safe, stay within Canada, and we don't rely on others to help power our AI.

So What Do You Do Now?

This strategy is a very strong signal towards adopting rather than just building. If you've dabbled or considered using AI, instead of starting with a technology, think about your work itself and how the work could improve. We do this on our own team a lot — if we need to make some changes to our business, we look at what it is. Is it an operations change? Is it a business model change? Is it a marketing change? Then we choose the appropriate tools to help solve it, with guidance and supervision from us. This has helped us reach targets and improve the business quicker.

So here are some things you can ask:

Try solving these problems first.

The Bottom Line.

Canada is making a big bet on AI, and it's not a fluke — it's where industries and economies are moving. Government is usually the last sign of innovation, and this should be a good signal to move towards digital capabilities.

The government can support, but at the end of the day it's up to the business to find practical ways to implement these tools and improve their operations. Canada only grows when your business does.

Spend some time to think about this, and if at any point you need some guidance, you can always give us a shout.

That's exactly the kind of problem we help Clarus Labs clients solve.