Canada CIFAR AI Chairs
TOP TALENT
Canada is recruiting and retaining top AI research talent.
The Canada CIFAR AI Chairs program is the cornerstone of the CIFAR Pan-Canadian AI Strategy. A total of $86.5 million has been earmarked for this program.
Its goal is to recruit the world’s leading AI researchers to Canada, while retaining our existing top talent. The program provides long-term, dedicated research funding to support their research programs and help them train the next generation of AI leaders.
There are 109 Canada CIFAR AI Chairs advancing research in a range of fundamental and applied AI topics from drug discovery and machine learning for health, autonomous vehicles, materials discovery, human-AI interaction, natural language prediction, and more. They are based at Canada's three AI Institutes: Amii in Edmonton, Mila in Montreal, and Vector Institute in Toronto.
Meet the #RealBrains Behind AI
The Brains Behind AI is a 10-part video series that provides a behind-the-scenes look at some of Canada’s most talented researchers in artificial intelligence, what areas of research they are focusing on over the next five years as Canada CIFAR AI Chairs and CIFAR fellows, and what motivates them to pursue research in a variety of areas that will transform the way we live and work.
Canada CIFAR AI Chairs
Aaron Courville
Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Adam Oberman
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Mila
Canada
Adam White
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
DeepMind
University of Alberta
DeepMind
University of Alberta
Canada
Aishwarya Agrawal
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
DeepMind
Mila
Université de Montréal
Mila
Université de Montréal
Canada
Alán Aspuru-Guzik
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Lebovic Fellow
Bio-inspired Solar Energy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Alireza Makhzani
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Alona Fyshe
Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Amir-massoud Farahmand
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Angel Chang
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
Simon Fraser University Technical
University of Munich
Simon Fraser University Technical
University of Munich
Canada
Angela Schoellig
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Animesh Garg
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
NVIDIA Research
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Anna Goldenberg
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Lebovic Fellow
Child & Brain Development
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Hospital for Sick Children
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Audrey Durand
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université Laval
Université Laval
Canada
Blake Richards
Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Mila
Canada
Bo Wang
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University Health Network (UHN)
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Chris J. Maddison
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Christian Gagné
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université Laval
Université Laval
Canada
Christophe Dubach
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Mila
Canada
Christopher Pal
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Polytechnique Montréal
Polytechnique Montréal
Canada
Courtney Paquette
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Mila
Canada
Csaba Szepesvari
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
DeepMind
University of Alberta
DeepMind
University of Alberta
Canada
Dale Schuurmans
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
Google Brain
University of Alberta
Google Brain
University of Alberta
Canada
Danica J. Sutherland
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
Canada
Daniel Roy
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
University of Toronto Scarborough
Vector Institute
University of Toronto Scarborough
Vector Institute
Canada
Danilo Bzdok
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Mila
Canada
David Duvenaud
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Invenia
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
David Fleet
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
David Rolnick
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Mila
Canada
Doina Precup
Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
DeepMind
McGill University
Mila
McGill University
Mila
Canada
Dzmitry Bahdanau
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
ServiceNow Element AI
Mila
ServiceNow Element AI
Canada
Eilif B. Muller
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center
Mila
Université de Montréal
Mila
Université de Montréal
Canada
Fernando Diaz
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Google
McGill University
Mila
McGill University
Mila
Canada
François Laviolette
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université Laval
Université Laval
Canada
Frank Rudzicz
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Frank Wood
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
Canada
Gauthier Gidel
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Gennady Pekhimenko
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Golnoosh Farnadi
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
HEC Montréal
Mila
Université de Montréal
Mila
Université de Montréal
Canada
Graham Taylor
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
NextAI
University of Guelph
Vector Institute
University of Guelph
Vector Institute
Canada
Guillaume Lajoie
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Guillaume Rabusseau
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Guy Wolf
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Hugo Larochelle
Associate Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Google Brain
Mila
Université de Montréal
Mila
Université de Montréal
Canada
Ioannis Mitliagkas
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Irina Rish
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Jackie Cheung
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Mila
Canada
Jacob L. Jaremko
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
James Wright
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
Google Brain
University of Alberta
Google Brain
University of Alberta
Canada
Jian Tang
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
HEC Montréal
Mila
Université de Montréal
Mila
Université de Montréal
Canada
Jimmy Ba
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Joelle Pineau
Advisor
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Facebook
McGill University
Mila
McGill University
Mila
Canada
Juan Felipe Carrasquilla
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Waterloo
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Kevin Leyton-Brown
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
Canada
Laurent Charlin
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
HEC Montréal
Mila
Université de Montréal
Mila
Université de Montréal
Canada
Lei Ma
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Leonid Sigal
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Borealis AI
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Levi H. S. Lelis
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
Universidade Federal de Viçosa in Brazil
University of Alberta
Universidade Federal de Viçosa in Brazil
University of Alberta
Canada
Liam Paull
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Lili Mou
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Marc G. Bellemare
Associate Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Google Brain
McGill University
Mila
McGill University
Mila
Canada
Marc-Antoine Dilhac
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Mark Schmidt
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
ElementAI
University of British Columbia
ElementAI
University of British Columbia
Canada
Marlos C. Machado
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Martha White
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Martin Müller
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Martin Vallières
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Sherbrooke
Université de Sherbrooke
Canada
Matthew Guzdial
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Matthew Taylor
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
Washington State University
University of Alberta
Washington State University
Canada
Michael Bowling
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
DeepMind
University of Alberta
DeepMind
University of Alberta
Canada
Michael Brudno
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University Health Network (UHN)
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Mijung Park
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
Canada
Mo Chen
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
NSERC Canadian Robotics Network
Simon Fraser University
NSERC Canadian Robotics Network
Simon Fraser University
Canada
Murat Erdogdu
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Nathan Sturtevant
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Denver
University of Alberta
University of Denver
Canada
Neil Burch
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Nicolas Le Roux
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Mila
Canada
Nicolas Papernot
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Google Brain
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Nidhi Hegde
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Osmar R. Zaïane
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Pascal Germain
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université Laval
Université Laval
Canada
Pascal Poupart
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Waterloo
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Pascal Vincent
Associate Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Patrick M. Pilarski
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
DeepMind
University of Alberta
DeepMind
University of Alberta
Canada
Pierre-Luc Bacon
Facebook CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Mila
Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Canada
Quaid Morris
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Morris Lab
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Rahul G. Krishnan
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Reihaneh Rabbany
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
McGill University
Mila
Mila
Canada
Richard S. Sutton
Associate Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
DeepMind
University of Alberta
DeepMind
University of Alberta
Canada
Richard Zemel
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Richard Zemel
Associate Fellow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Learning in Machines & Brains
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Google Brain
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Roger Grosse
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Metacademy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Rupam Mahmood
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Russell Greiner
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Alberta
University of Alberta
Canada
Sageev Oore
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Dalhousie University
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Samira Ebrahimi Kahou
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS)
McGill University
Mila
McGill University
Mila
Canada
Sandra Zilles
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Amii
University of Regina
University of Regina
Canada
Sanja Fidler
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
NVIDIA
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Canada
Sarath Chandar
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
École Polytechnique de Montréal
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Mila
Université de Montréal
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Mila
Université de Montréal
Shai Ben-David
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Waterloo
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
Sheila McIlraith
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
University of Toronto
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Canada
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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.