Canada is not likely to become a conventional AI power. But here’s how it can still win
Canada is positioned to leverage its unique advantages in the race for AI infrastructure development. With abundant clean energy, a stable regulatory environment, and ample land, Canada can attract investment in AI computing facilities. However, success will depend on establishing a governance framework that ensures data sovereignty and respects Indigenous land rights.
- ▪Canada has no major AI companies like OpenAI or Anthropic, but it has advantages in infrastructure.
- ▪The country generates approximately 80 percent of its electricity from non-emitting sources, primarily hydroelectric.
- ▪Canada's cool climate helps reduce cooling costs for data centers, which can be significant operating expenses.
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Open this photo in gallery:Canada’s infrastructure creates the opportunity, but governance is what sustains it, write Savar Suri and Perrin Beatty.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian PressShareSave for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story.Log InCreate Free AccountSavar Suri is an Émile Boutmy Scholar at Sciences Po Paris. Perrin Beatty is a former cabinet minister and former CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The dominant narrative in the race for AI leadership has become familiar: For a seat at the table, you must produce the next OpenAI or Anthropic, train the researchers, and build a frontier model. By this measure, Canada, having no company on this scale, is already behind. The narrative, however, misunderstands the mechanisms of leverage in AI leadership.
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