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Canadian firms are slower to adopt AI than their global peers. Only about one-quarter have fully implemented AI, compared to one-third globally. But IBM data shows 84% of Canadian executives are confident in 2026 performance and 86% are already using agentic AI. So which is it? This episode examines the disconnect between Canada's research strength and its commercialization struggles, the cultural factors holding companies back, and why the AI adoption gap isn't uniform across the economy.

Sources:

https://thehub.ca/podcast/video/the-future-is-present-why-canada-cant-afford-to-move-slowly-on-ai-innovation-strategies/

https://canada.newsroom.ibm.com/2026-02-02-Canadas-AI-Moment-Five-Trends-Redefining-Business-Confidence,-Speed-and-Trust-in-2026

https://thelogic.co/commentary/quebec-ink/yoshua-bengio-geoffrey-hinton-canada-ai-doom/

Tags

AI North Brief, Canadian AI, AI Policy, AI Adoption, Linux Foundation, IBM Canada, Hilary Carter, AI Readiness, Open Source AI, Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, AI Safety

Chapter Markers

00:00 Intro 00:30 Two Competing Stories 01:45 The Valley of Death 03:00 The Doom and Gloom Problem 04:15 What Readiness Looks Like 05:30 What's Holding the Rest Back 06:30 What This Means

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The deadline for Canada's sovereign AI data centre proposals closed on Saturday. For the past month, the federal government accepted pitches for projects over 100 megawatts, Canadian-controlled, designed to reduce dependence on foreign compute. Brookfield estimates hyperscale data centres cost $10 million per megawatt to build, with compute infrastructure adding another $30 million per megawatt. Selected proponents will enter MOUs with the government, though no funding has been allocated yet. This episode examines what happens next and whether the gap between policy and physical infrastructure can finally close.

Sources:

https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/enabling-large-scale-sovereign-ai-data-centres

https://betakit.com/feds-call-for-proposals-to-build-large-scale-data-centres-in-canada/

https://www.torys.com/our-latest-thinking/publications/2026/01/canada-promotes-investment-in-sovereign-large-scale-ai-data-centres

https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/2026/02/government-of-canada-launches-call-for-proposals-for-large-scale-sovereign-ai-data-centres

https://datacenternews.ca/story/feds-seek-applications-for-sovereign-data-centres-over-100mw

https://www.brookfield.com/views-news/insights/infrastructure-outlook-accelerating-growth

https://www.ieso.ca/Corporate-IESO/Media/News-Releases/2024/10/Electricity-Demand-in-Ontario-to-Grow-by-75-per-cent-by-2050

https://betakit.com/microsoft-to-spend-7-5-billion-on-ai-data-centre-expansion-with-pledge-to-protect-canadas-digital-sovereignty/

https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/canadian-sovereign-ai-compute-strategy

Tags

AI North Brief, Canadian AI, AI Policy, Sovereign Compute, Data Centres, AI Infrastructure, ISED, Evan Solomon, Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, Budget 2025, Brookfield, Microsoft

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Description

Canada and Germany signed an AI cooperation agreement at the Munich Security Conference, launching the Sovereign Technology Alliance. The deal focuses on compute infrastructure, AI research, and talent development. It explicitly names Yoshua Bengio's LawZero as a potential area for collaboration. The signing comes as the Munich conference wrapped with warnings about "wrecking-ball politics" and the fracturing of the rules-based international order. This episode examines what the declaration actually does, what it doesn't do, and how it fits into Canada's broader pivot toward middle-power partnerships.

Sources:

https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2026/02/canada-and-germany-sign-ai-joint-declaration-and-launch-sovereign-technology-alliance.html

https://globalnews.ca/news/11668118/canada-signs-ai-declaration-germany/

https://lawzero.org/en/news/yoshua-bengio-launches-lawzero-new-nonprofit-advancing-safe-design-ai

https://time.com/7290554/yoshua-bengio-launches-lawzero-for-safer-ai/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/munich-security-trump-carney-9.7077801

https://securityconference.org/en/publications/munich-security-report/2026/

https://www.canadianaffairs.news/2026/02/11/how-ai-is-affecting-canadas-job-market/

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/carney-cancels-trip-to-europe-following-bc-school-shooting/

Tags

AI North Brief, Canadian AI, AI Policy, Canada Germany, Sovereign Technology Alliance, Munich Security Conference, Evan Solomon, LawZero, Yoshua Bengio, AI Safety, Sovereign Compute, Mark Carney

Chapter Markers

00:00 Intro 00:45 What the Declaration Actually Does 02:30 The Context That Matters 04:00 What It Does Not Do 05:30 The Bigger Picture