Skip to content
CIFAR header logo
fr
menu_mobile_logo_alt
  • News
  • Events
    • Public Events
    • Invitation-only Meetings
  • Programs
    • Research Programs
    • Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
    • Next Generation Initiatives
  • People
    • Fellows & Advisors
    • CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars
    • Canada CIFAR AI Chairs
    • AI Strategy Leadership
    • Solution Network Members
    • Leadership
  • Support Us
  • About
    • Our Story
    • CIFAR 40
    • Awards
    • Partnerships
    • Publications & Reports
    • Careers
    • Staff Directory
    • Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
  • fr

Follow Us

  • Home
  • Pan-Canadian AI Strategy

The Pan-Canadian AI Strategy

CIFAR, Amii, Mila and Vector Institute
CIFAR, Amii, Mila and Vector Institute
smaller line

Featured AI News

Grid of photos of new and renewed Chairs

AI Science

Canada’s AI leadership strengthened through new and renewed Canada CIFAR AI Chairs under the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy

April 27, 2023
Photo of meeting attendees

AI for Energy and the Environment

CIFAR hosts AI for Energy & the Environment Symposium

April 19, 2023

AI for Energy and the Environment

Canada’s three National AI Institutes advance AI solutions for energy and the environment

April 17, 2023
Photo of Elissa Strome

AI and Society

International Women’s Day 2023: a call for innovation and technology for gender equality

March 08, 2023
Photo of researcher Vincent Mai, along with an image of a robotic hand.

AI and Society

What will be the impact of AI-assisted robotics on humanity?

February 15, 2023
Young people wearing Actua t-shirts working together on a robotic AI-piloted car.

CIFAR NextGen AI Training Programs

CIFAR partners with Actua for Indigenous next-generation training in AI

November 08, 2022
smaller line

Canada is a global AI leader

The Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy strengthens Canada's leadership in AI.

Launched in 2017, Canada's national AI Strategy was the first in the world.

Our three National AI Institutes – Amii in Edmonton, Mila in Montreal, and the Vector Institute in Toronto – are the vibrant central hubs of Canada's thriving AI ecosystem. We bring together national and international collaborations in the rapidly developing field of AI.

Do you have questions about the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy?
Contact us at ai@cifar.ca.

Destination AI

Step into the world of artificial intelligence

A free online course for Canadians

Learn more
smaller white line

Key Strategic Priorities

Our vision is that by 2030, Canada will have one of the most robust national AI ecosystems in the world, founded upon scientific excellence, high-quality training and deep talent pools, public-private collaboration and our strong values of advancing AI technologies to bring positive social, economic and environmental benefits for people and the planet.

Advancing AI Science

Advancing AI Science

Learn More

AI for Health

AI for Health

Learn More

AI for Energy and the Environment

AI for Energy and the Environment

Learn More

AI Commercialization

AI Commercialization

Learn More

Understanding the Societal Implications of AI

Learn More

Advancing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in AI

Learn More
smaller white line

Canada CIFAR AI Chairs

Canada CIFAR AI Chairs / Titulaires de chaire en IA Canada-CIFAR

More than one hundred Canada CIFAR AI Chairs advance research in a range of fields: from drug discovery and machine learning for health; to autonomous vehicles; materials discovery; human-AI interaction; natural language processing; and more.

The chairs are based at Canada's three AI Institutes: Amii in Edmonton, Mila in Montreal, and Vector Institute in Toronto.

The Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy recruits the world's leading AI researchers to Canada, while retaining our existing top talent. We provide long-term, dedicated research funding to support these cutting-edge research programs and help them train the next generation of AI leaders. Advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in Canada's AI ecosystem is a top priority.

Meet the Chairs
Show Transcript
I'm Alanna fish I'm an assistant
professor at the University of Alberta
and I'm also a Canada Safari i J
my research is trying to find
connections between the way computers
understand the world and the way we
understand the world so when we build
computer models of for example computer
vision we ask computers to tell us
what's in a picture and it turns out the
way they learn to do that actually looks
a lot like the way the human brain does
it so I'm my research is trying to draw
those connections between the way the
brain works and the way that machine
learning models work we understood how
people perceived images we could build
computer models that perceive images in
the same way and that might mean they're
better at that perception it could also
mean things like when they make a
mistake it's a more human mistake and
that sort of thing could be really
important for applications where
computers are interacting with the real
world I think Canada has been so well
positioned for the AI revolution I think
we happen to have a really strong group
of people already here and then with the
funding from Seifer on the Canadian
government were able to grow that team
in a way that has really put us ahead of
other countries I think it's a great
time to be in Canada for AI but the
thing that I think has been most
important to me with my involvement with
see far has been the networking and the
getting to know other people who are
working on AI so that has been has had a
huge impact on my career a measurable
impact on my career already and I'm
quite a new researcher so having those
sorts of opportunities early on is
really important you can never really
tell what what new science is going to
change the world and so finding the
right people smart people and giving
them the money they need to make
progress is really important and it's
what will make science into reality
you
View more profiles

Pictured above, from left to right, top to bottom:

  • Audrey Durand
  • Animesh Garg
  • Yuhong Guo
  • Sanja Fidler
  • Courtney Paquette
  • Jimmy Ba
  • Marlos C. Machado
  • Jian Tang
  • Neil Burch

Meet all the Chairs

smaller line

Facts and Figures:
Canada’s AI Landscape

The success of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy to date demonstrates that investment in fundamental science and talent development is foundational for innovation and for economic growth.

Canada’s Position in AI

0th

Canada’s global AI Vibrancy ranking for investment, innovation and implementation.1

0th

Ranking on Stanford’s Global AI Vibrancy Tool (ahead of all G7 nations except US & UK)2, measuring R&D and economic impact.

Tech Jobs and Talent

0nd

Canada’s global ranking in AI hiring according to Stanford’s Global AI Vibrancy Tool.2

0 & 2

Ranking of Vancouver (44%) & Toronto (37%) as top North American markets for high-tech job growth.3

1, 2, 0

Ranking of Waterloo, Ottawa & Calgary (in order) as top North American tech markets to watch.3

0

Canada’s global rank for largest pool of top-tier AI researchers in the world.4

0%

Proportion of the world’s most elite (top 0.5%) researchers living in Canada, second only to the US.4

Startups

0

Number of startup companies in Canada5 (more than doubled since 2018).

$0B

Venture capital funding generated by Canadian AI startups in 2021.6

0rd

Canada’s rank for # of companies among the 2022 CBInsights7 “Top 100 Most Promising AI Startups” globally (exceeded only by the US & UK).

0

# of Canadian “unicorn” companies that reach a $1B valuation before listing (since 2010), with 19 currently operating; all deploy AI.8

Industry investments

0

Formal, distinct company partnerships between CIFAR, Amii, Mila and the Vector Institute 2021-22.

0

# of AI & tech-related announcements about foreign investments in Canada (2017–2022).

Patents

0

Patents awarded to Canada CIFAR AI Chairs (US Patent Office).

0

Patent applications in machine learning by Canadian inventors in 2022.9

0

Machine learning patents awarded by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office in 2022.10

0X

Growth in Canadian AI patent applications since 20172 (compared to <8X growth in US).

  1. https://www.tortoisemedia.com/intelligence/global-ai/
  2. https://aiindex.stanford.edu/vibrancy/
  3. https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/tech-30-2022#download-report
  4. https://macropolo.org/digital-projects/the-global-ai-talent-tracker/
  5. https://www.crunchbase.com/hub/canada-artificial-intelligence-companies
  6. CrunchBase. (2022, July). Canadian AI Startups & Funding Round Extract.
  7. https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/artificial-intelligence-top-startups-2022/
  8. https://tracxn.com/d/unicorn-corner/canada
  9. https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/advancedSearch.jsf; query: IADC:CA AND DP:(2022) AND EN_ALLTXT:"machine learning"
  10. https://www.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/search/advanced.html; query: ("machine learning") AND (current-status:Patents) AND (issue-date:[2022-01-01 TO 2022-12-31])
Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy
Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy

Support Us

CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and Canadian and international partner organizations.

Donate Now
CIFAR header logo

MaRS Centre, West Tower
661 University Ave., Suite 505
Toronto, ON M5G 1M1 Canada

Contact Us
Media
Careers
Accessibility Policies
Supporters
Financial Reports
Subscribe

  • © Copyright 2023 CIFAR. All Rights Reserved.
  • Charitable Registration Number: 11921 9251 RR0001
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap

Subscribe

Stay up to date on news & ideas from CIFAR.

This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember you. We use this information in order to improve and customize your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media. To find out more about the cookies we use, see our Privacy Policy.
Accept Learn more