As artificial intelligence transforms how people learn and work, the federal government is aiming to “level the playing field on AI” by ensuring young Canadians have the skills and experience to succeed in an “AI-supported economy,” thereby building a domestic talent pipeline while helping businesses adopt and commercialize AI.
Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon this month unveiled up to $162 million over five years for Mitacs to support 10,000 co-funded work placement opportunities for post-secondary students, recent graduates, and post-doctoral fellows assist Canadian businesses around AI adoption and innovation.
“AI is changing the way we work and creating new opportunities across our economy,” says Solomon.
“We want young Canadians to have the skills and real-world experience they need to seize those opportunities,” the minister said.
“By creating 10,000 AI-related work placements through Mitacs, we are investing in Canadian talent while helping businesses adopt AI, boost productivity, and compete,” Solomon stated.
“This is how we make sure the opportunities created by AI translate into good jobs and a stronger economy for Canadians,” the minister believes.
Funding will support the Mitacs AI Advantage programming, which enables business-academic collaborations through two complementary streams designed to strengthen Canada’s AI talent pipeline and accelerate AI adoption and commercialization.
One stream, ADOPT, will support work placement opportunities focused on technology adoption, linking industry partners with researchers and talent to help businesses test and deploy solutions.
The other stream, AI+X, will support work placement opportunities focused on innovation, co-funding research work placements and collaborations that apply AI to solve problems and develop new technologies.
“Through Mitacs AI Advantage, we’re embedding young, highly skilled Canadians directly into businesses, giving them real-world work experience with responsible AI,” says Mitacs chief executive officer Stephen Lucas, “while helping our small and medium-sized enterprises adopt AI, innovate, and compete with confidence.”
Mitacs has partnerships with more than 200 post-secondary institutions, 170 innovation incubators, and 12,000 companies across Canada, according to Lucas, who notes that the organization has supported more than 4,000 AI-related innovation projects since 2020.
“This is how we build the workforce of the future and a stronger Canadian economy,” he stated.
The investment delivers on a priority of Canada’s recently released “National Artificial Intelligence Strategy: AI for All,” which focuses on building an “AI-skilled nation” in an “AI-driven economy.”
Through AI for All, revealed in June, the Government of Canada hopes to create 90,000 AI-related job and work placement opportunities for young Canadians by 2031.
