Solomon: Canada Must Build AI or Rent From Neighbours
Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon says Canada must build AI capacity at home or it will have to "rent" the technology from its neighbours and follow their rules.
He linked sovereign control over AI systems and data to domestic growth paired with partnership with countries that share Canada's values. Isolation is not the answer. Solomon spoke at the All In AI conference in Montreal, in remarks reported Sept. 16. The Globe and Mail
The conference also carried a bilateral research announcement. Canada's Mila research institute and Germany's German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence are formalizing a partnership to bolster AI ties. The focus is safe AI systems and their application in key industries such as energy.
Germany's digital minister Karsten Wildberger said shared standards and oversight are essential to ensuring safe AI development and cutting-edge technology.
Germany was selected as the Country of Honour for ALL IN 2026. The event takes place Sept. 16-17 in Montréal. ALL IN
Mila also partnered with Giesecke+Devrient to help shape the future of trusted AI. Mila
The broader context here is control over deployment conditions. A government that does not host development, evaluation and deployment capacity has limited leverage over safety protocols, data handling and access terms. It becomes a standards taker. Solomon's "rent" formulation speaks directly to that risk.
Looking at what this means for federal policy, the emphasis on allied cooperation points toward interoperability rather than regulatory divergence. Shared standards and joint oversight with Germany suggest Ottawa sees safety assurance and industrial application as files to be negotiated multilaterally, not set unilaterally. Energy as an initial use case points to sectors where public oversight and procurement already shape adoption.
In my view, the federal-provincial dimension will decide how far this rhetoric travels. Ottawa can set national direction and pursue international agreements, but research capacity, skilled talent and electricity systems sit largely with provinces and with institutions outside direct federal control. A Montreal venue keeps that tension visible. National AI ambition has to be delivered through provincial ecosystems.
For those working the file day to day, the language of values-based partnership bears close attention. It implies procurement preferences, assurance regimes and data governance models that favour allied interoperability. The operational question is how those preferences are codified without creating duplicative compliance burdens for labs and vendors working across jurisdictions.
The test for expert readers is implementation. Partnership announcements establish intent and research alignment. Sovereignty, as Solomon defines it, will turn on domestic build decisions and whether allied standards work reduces friction for Canadian firms deploying safe systems at scale.
