Artificial intelligence is profoundly reshaping industries and societies globally, placing nations in fierce competition for leadership. For Canada, this era presents both immense opportunity and a critical challenge: a growing chasm between its world-class AI research and the widespread adoption and workforce readiness necessary to truly leverage this technology.
Canada paved the way as an AI leader, launching the world’s first national AI strategy in 2017. Our world-leading research, exemplified by AI pioneers like Richard Sutton—chief scientific advisor at Amii and recently named Turing Laureate—alongside visionaries like Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, demonstrates the calibre of Canadian research and its impact on the global AI community. However, for all our formidable research legacy, Canada still significantly lags behind many other leading nations in the practical integration of AI across its industries—a critical difference highlighted by KPMG, which reports only 26 percent of Canadian organizations are adopting AI compared to 34 percent globally. This discrepancy means Canada isn’t fully capitalizing on its homegrown innovations, directly hindering productivity growth and undermining global competitiveness in the AI economy.
This sluggish AI adoption traces directly to a fundamental gap in AI literacy and workforce preparedness. Many Canadians lack a basic grasp of what AI is, how it works, its capabilities, or its ethical implications. This misunderstanding even extends to our classrooms, where valuable chances to engage students are often met with resistance or missed opportunities. However, this collective skills gap presents a significant opportunity: as Public First’s latest Economic Impact Report, commissioned by Google Canada, notes, 63 percent of Canadian workers are interested in acquiring AI skills, with interest rising to 72 percent among young Canadians. By proactively addressing this deficit, we can empower a workforce confident in leveraging AI, transforming bottlenecks into pathways for innovation, and ensuring AI’s potential benefits are realized in all sectors and by every Canadian.
Against this backdrop of significant need and urgent action, transformative initiatives like the recently announced AI Workforce Readiness program by Amii, and supported by Google.org, emerge as perfectly timed and critically important interventions. This $5 million AI initiative aims to close Canada’s AI skills gap, preparing the next generation of workers while also reskilling and upskilling the current workforce for our dynamically changing economy.
This investment in widespread AI literacy is far more than just individual upskilling; it’s a strategic economic imperative. An AI-literate workforce fundamentally transforms how businesses operate, driving significant gains. The same Economic Impact Report estimates that AI could boost Canada’s economy by $230 billion and save the average worker over 175 hours a year. This latent future is unlocked when employees across all levels understand how to responsibly use AI tools, enabling efficient adoption and fostering organic innovation as they identify novel, AI-driven solutions to everyday problems.
Through the AI Workforce Readiness program, Amii will work with educators to embed practical AI literacy into curricula at 25 post-secondary institutions, reaching 125,000 students nationwide. The goal is to cultivate AI “bilingualism”—a type of AI fluency—that gives individuals the foundational knowledge to seamlessly integrate AI principles into any professional discipline. This approach dismantles traditional silos, making AI an essential tool for improved decision-making, enhanced problem-solving, and sparking innovation across all sectors. Much like how digital literacy became a necessity during the rise of the Internet, by democratizing AI knowledge for non-technical individuals, this program ensures its profound benefits are widely shared, fostering a more inclusive digital economy where all Canadians can prosper.
Considering the holistic advantages, AI literacy equips individuals with future-proof skills, leading to more stable and adaptable careers. It empowers Canadians to navigate AI-driven job market changes, ensuring they evolve with technology rather than being displaced. This initiative will foster a nation of builders, sparking entrepreneurship and driving the creation of innovative Canadian companies that can compete globally. This, in turn, diversifies our economy beyond traditional sectors, opening doors to new industries and expanding export opportunities. The societal benefits are equally impactful: AI literacy creates more informed citizens, improves public services, and better equips society to address complex challenges from climate change to health care.
In a global context, where nations are moving as fast as they can to advance and benefit from AI, for Canada, a golden opportunity emerges. Building atop our legacy of excellence in AI research while investing in the diffusion of AI knowledge and literacy will ensure that Canadians are ready for an evolved workforce, capable of driving innovation, boosting productivity, and ensuring long-term economic prosperity. By sustaining investment in AI literacy and scientific excellence, Canada will not only strengthen its leadership in the global AI landscape but also ensure that the benefits of this transformative technology are realized by every Canadian, fostering a resilient, innovative, and truly prosperous future.
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