Canada’s approach to G7 Artificial Intelligence commitments
At the 2025 G7 Summit, collaboration on the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was identified as a key priority. Upon the summit’s conclusion, a joint statement on “adopting, powering, and sharing artificial intelligence” was released with the participants committing to...
Overview
At the 2025 G7 Summit, collaboration on the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was identified as a key priority. Upon the summit’s conclusion, a joint statement on “adopting, powering, and sharing artificial intelligence” was released with the participants committing to:
Current Commitments
- Work together to accelerate adoption of AI in the public sector to enhance the quality of public services for both citizens and businesses and increase government efficiency while respecting human rights and privacy, as well as promoting transparency, fairness, and accountability.
- Promote economic prosperity by supporting SMEs to adopt and develop AI that respects personal data and intellectual property rights, and strengthen their readiness, efficiency, productivity and competitiveness.
- Meet the energy challenges of AI and harness its potential for advancements in energy efficiency and innovation.
- Expand mutually beneficial partnerships with emerging markets and developing country partners to increase access to AI for everyone.
In Support
To support these broader commitments, the G7 participants issued several actionable provisions, including the launch of the “G7 AI Adoption Roadmap”. The roadmap is designed to reflect the participants’ vision and actions on promoting “secure, responsible, and trustworthy AI that benefits people, mitigates negative externalities, and promotes national security.” With the release of this roadmap, the participants further committed to:
- Accelerate AI Readiness and Competitiveness by launching AI adoption programs that support AI integration among SMEs.
- Develop an AI Adoption Blueprint that provides policy options for governments to “build an enabling ecosystem” for AI adoption and integration.
- Expand G7 Talent Exchanges through cooperation among G7 members to support the exchange of AI experts and skilled workers.
- Unlock AI opportunity through trust-building and leverage the Hiroshima AI Process (HAIP) to facilitate “responsible AI deployment”.
Artificial Intelligence in Canada
Canada’s AI industry traces its roots back to the 1970s when the first national AI association, the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association (CAIAC), was founded. This was followed by the establishment of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) in 1982 to support research and collaboration.
In 2017, Canada became the first country in the world to launch a “national AI strategy” to facilitate advancement, adoption and collaboration on AI research. As of 2020, Canada’s AI industry comprises more than 850 start-up companies, 20 public research labs, 75 incubators and accelerators, and 60 groups of investors from across the country.
However, despite being a leader in funding AI research, AI integration, investment and literacy in Canada so far has been slow. Thus, to boost the domestic AI industry and meet the G7 commitments, Prime Minister Carney announced three key projects:
- AI For Growth that will receive $174 million over three years in funding to boost AI adoption among SMEs.
- AI and Energy that will receive up to $10 million over four years to promote AI technologies in the energy sector. Additionally, Canada will provide $145,000 in funding to the International Energy Agency’s key projects on AI and Energy.
- AI for Everyone that will receive $1.5 million over four years to improve trust-building and adoption of AI in developing countries. Canada previously committed $16 million to the AI for Development program meant to streamline the purchasing process.
The G7 summit also recognized the potential information threats posed by Generative AI in digital transnational repression. The Cyber Threats to Canada’s Democratic Process March 2025 update noted a rising trend in Generative AI being used to create or spread disinformation. To address this challenge, Canada announced a two-year pilot project, the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) Digital Transnational Repression Academy, dedicated developing identification and response capabilities to information threats.
Official Announcement
Joint Statement: G7 Leaders’ Statement on AI for Prosperity
Backgrounder: Prime Minister Carney Concludes 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit