Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation
By Jennifer Friesen
DIGITAL JOURNAL
March 19, 2026
Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon at Platform Calgary Mar. 18, 2026. - Photo by Jennifer Friesen, Digital Journal
There’s a version of this story where Canada wins AI.
We have the research, the talent, and cities like Calgary pulling founders, investors, and policymakers into the same room to figure out what comes next.
There’s also a version where we keep doing what we’ve always done. Build here, sell early, and watch the upside leave.
At a sold-out event at Platform Calgary on Wednesday, federal Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon spoke to a room of founders, investors, researchers, and policymakers about what happens as AI starts shaping where companies build, hire, and grow.
“We plant the seeds here. We water the seeds. We grow the plants, and they come and harvest,” he said.
The visit comes as Ottawa works on a new national AI strategy following a public consultation process that drew input from more than 11,000 Canadians. The focus now is on commercialization, adoption, infrastructure, and how to keep more economic value in the country.
Ottawa is rewriting its AI playbook at the same time companies are deciding right now where to invest, who to sell to, and how to scale.
“This is a hinge moment,” said Platform Calgary CEO Jennifer Lussier.
The question on the table was if Canada can turn its AI advantage into something that lasts
March 19, 2026
Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon at Platform Calgary Mar. 18, 2026. - Photo by Jennifer Friesen, Digital Journal
There’s a version of this story where Canada wins AI.
We have the research, the talent, and cities like Calgary pulling founders, investors, and policymakers into the same room to figure out what comes next.
There’s also a version where we keep doing what we’ve always done. Build here, sell early, and watch the upside leave.
At a sold-out event at Platform Calgary on Wednesday, federal Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon spoke to a room of founders, investors, researchers, and policymakers about what happens as AI starts shaping where companies build, hire, and grow.
“We plant the seeds here. We water the seeds. We grow the plants, and they come and harvest,” he said.
The visit comes as Ottawa works on a new national AI strategy following a public consultation process that drew input from more than 11,000 Canadians. The focus now is on commercialization, adoption, infrastructure, and how to keep more economic value in the country.
Ottawa is rewriting its AI playbook at the same time companies are deciding right now where to invest, who to sell to, and how to scale.
“This is a hinge moment,” said Platform Calgary CEO Jennifer Lussier.
The question on the table was if Canada can turn its AI advantage into something that lasts
.
Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon (left) and Platform CEO Jennifer Lussier tour Platform Calgary on Mar. 18, 2026. – Photo by Jennifer Friesen, Digital Journal
A moment bigger than AI
“We are living through the biggest political realignment since the Second World War,” explained Solomon. “This political realignment and this technological realignment poses real challenges to our sovereignty, to our values, to our communities, but it also presents opportunities.”
That word keeps coming up now. ‘Sovereignty’ shows up in federal strategy documents, telecom partnerships, and academic reports. Not in a vague, patriotic way. In a very specific, slightly uncomfortable way.
Sensitive Canadian data, from financial systems to health records, is often stored or processed on foreign infrastructure, which means it can fall under foreign laws.
If your product runs on infrastructure you don’t control, your roadmap depends on decisions made somewhere else.
If your data sits in another jurisdiction, your legal exposure changes overnight.
And if your company scales on platforms you don’t own, the value tends to follow the platform.
Solomon also acknowledged the balancing act. Canada is not stepping away from global markets. Most companies in the room will still sell into the United States and beyond.
“Sovereignty is not solitude,” he said. “We are not building a digital moat.”
Build here, compete globally, rely on systems that are often outside your control, and still try to keep the upside anchored at home.
The culture gap inside the system
Owning the system is one thing. Getting it to move is another.
Solomon described what he sees as two instincts inside organizations. One defaults to caution, focusing on risk and process. The other moves ahead despite uncertainty, with a bias toward action and a willingness to figure things out along the way.
He called it ‘team yes’ and ‘team no.’
“My job is to facilitate team yes, to get out of the way when we need to, and to give a boost when we have to.”
That framing puts government in a supporting role, helping builders move faster. It also raises a more practical question about how often the system does the opposite.
He acknowledged that progress won’t be clean.
“We’re going to screw up sometimes, but we’ve got to be a bit risk tolerant,” he said. “Iterate ideas, admit when you’re wrong, build on mistakes, get better.”
Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon spoke at Platform Calgary on Mar. 18, 2026. – Photo by Jennifer Friesen, Digital Journal
That kind of iteration is standard inside startups. But public systems are built differently, with layers of approval, procurement rules, and accountability structures that make pace harder to apply.
At the same time, the pace of building is speeding up.
“The distance between idea and execution has never been shorter,” he said.
Shorter timelines make those constraints more visible. Companies trying to move from pilot to deployment still run into procurement cycles, funding approvals, and programs that were not designed for that speed.
But behaviour is only part of the problem.
An OECD study of AI adoption across G7 countries found that more than 60% of firms cite a shortage of skilled talent as a major barrier. Cost, access to usable data, and uncertainty about how to apply AI in real business settings also rank near the top.
Even companies willing to move quickly run into limits around hiring, infrastructure, and clarity on return.
Why Canada struggles to hold on to scale
Canada’s brain drain has been discussed a thousand times. It’s a pattern tech has been trying to outgrow for years. What’s changing is how often it comes up in conversations about AI.
Canada produces companies with strong research foundations and early traction. As those companies grow, many still look outside the country for capital, customers, and infrastructure.
Solomon pointed to three areas where policy is trying to intervene, focusing on capital, compute, and customers.
Each one maps to a point where companies tend to leave.
Access to capital remains a constraint at later stages. Founders often look to larger U.S. funds when they need bigger rounds or faster deal timelines.
Compute is becoming just as important. Training and deploying AI systems requires infrastructure that is expensive and concentrated in a small number of providers. Programs like the federal compute fund are meant to lower that barrier, particularly when companies use domestic infrastructure, he said.
Customers may be the most immediate lever.
“Most of you would rather have a contract than a grant,” Solomon said.
That kind of iteration is standard inside startups. But public systems are built differently, with layers of approval, procurement rules, and accountability structures that make pace harder to apply.
At the same time, the pace of building is speeding up.
“The distance between idea and execution has never been shorter,” he said.
Shorter timelines make those constraints more visible. Companies trying to move from pilot to deployment still run into procurement cycles, funding approvals, and programs that were not designed for that speed.
But behaviour is only part of the problem.
An OECD study of AI adoption across G7 countries found that more than 60% of firms cite a shortage of skilled talent as a major barrier. Cost, access to usable data, and uncertainty about how to apply AI in real business settings also rank near the top.
Even companies willing to move quickly run into limits around hiring, infrastructure, and clarity on return.
Why Canada struggles to hold on to scale
Canada’s brain drain has been discussed a thousand times. It’s a pattern tech has been trying to outgrow for years. What’s changing is how often it comes up in conversations about AI.
Canada produces companies with strong research foundations and early traction. As those companies grow, many still look outside the country for capital, customers, and infrastructure.
Solomon pointed to three areas where policy is trying to intervene, focusing on capital, compute, and customers.
Each one maps to a point where companies tend to leave.
Access to capital remains a constraint at later stages. Founders often look to larger U.S. funds when they need bigger rounds or faster deal timelines.
Compute is becoming just as important. Training and deploying AI systems requires infrastructure that is expensive and concentrated in a small number of providers. Programs like the federal compute fund are meant to lower that barrier, particularly when companies use domestic infrastructure, he said.
Customers may be the most immediate lever.
“Most of you would rather have a contract than a grant,” Solomon said.
Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon (left) and Platform CEO Jennifer Lussier gave a fireside chat to a sold out room at Platform Calgary. – Photo by Jennifer Friesen, Digital Journal
Revenue changes the equation. A contract provides validation, not just funding, and can make it easier to attract private investment.
That is where procurement comes in. Governments can act as early customers, creating demand for Canadian companies.
The challenge is that this approach depends on how those systems operate in practice. Procurement is still a sticking point. Long timelines, dense requirements, and unclear processes make it hard for smaller companies to get through the door.
Even with new programs and incentives, founders will continue making decisions based on where they can grow fastest and with the least friction.
Policy can influence that decision, but it doesn’t remove the trade-offs.
Adoption is the problem no one can ignore
“Currently, Canada adopts AI at the lowest rate in the OECD, 12% adoption rate,” Solomon said. “A lot of people don’t trust it. So we gotta get the trust up.”
Interest is growing, but most companies are still on the sidelines. Two-thirds of businesses say they have no plans to adopt AI in the next year, and many report that the technology does not yet feel relevant to what they do.
Even among companies exploring AI, many report improvements in productivity and efficiency, but adoption is still uneven and early-stage.
The benefits are showing up inside companies that have made the leap. Outside that group, hesitation is still the default.
The decision comes down to whether a tool improves how work gets done or introduces more complexity than it removes. When that answer is unclear, projects stall or never move past early testing.
Trust is part of that hesitation, but it is not the only factor. Cost, integration challenges, and a lack of internal expertise continue to slow adoption, even as the technology becomes more accessible.
Companies are making decisions now about where to invest, what to build, and how quickly to move. Those decisions will shape where value is created and where it ends up.
Canada has already shown it can grow in the early stages. What happens next depends on whether more companies decide to use what is being built, and whether that value stays long enough to be harvested here.
Revenue changes the equation. A contract provides validation, not just funding, and can make it easier to attract private investment.
That is where procurement comes in. Governments can act as early customers, creating demand for Canadian companies.
The challenge is that this approach depends on how those systems operate in practice. Procurement is still a sticking point. Long timelines, dense requirements, and unclear processes make it hard for smaller companies to get through the door.
Even with new programs and incentives, founders will continue making decisions based on where they can grow fastest and with the least friction.
Policy can influence that decision, but it doesn’t remove the trade-offs.
Adoption is the problem no one can ignore
“Currently, Canada adopts AI at the lowest rate in the OECD, 12% adoption rate,” Solomon said. “A lot of people don’t trust it. So we gotta get the trust up.”
Interest is growing, but most companies are still on the sidelines. Two-thirds of businesses say they have no plans to adopt AI in the next year, and many report that the technology does not yet feel relevant to what they do.
Even among companies exploring AI, many report improvements in productivity and efficiency, but adoption is still uneven and early-stage.
The benefits are showing up inside companies that have made the leap. Outside that group, hesitation is still the default.
The decision comes down to whether a tool improves how work gets done or introduces more complexity than it removes. When that answer is unclear, projects stall or never move past early testing.
Trust is part of that hesitation, but it is not the only factor. Cost, integration challenges, and a lack of internal expertise continue to slow adoption, even as the technology becomes more accessible.
Companies are making decisions now about where to invest, what to build, and how quickly to move. Those decisions will shape where value is created and where it ends up.
Canada has already shown it can grow in the early stages. What happens next depends on whether more companies decide to use what is being built, and whether that value stays long enough to be harvested here.
Final shots
Where companies choose to scale will determine whether the value created in Canada stays here
Early customer access, especially through procurement, can influence whether companies grow domestically
Adoption is still concentrated among a small group of Canadian companies, leaving most on the sidelines
Written ByJennifer Friesen
Jennifer Friesen is Digital Journal's associate editor and content manager based in Calgary.
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