Canada is putting itself on a deadline.
At the ALL IN conference in Montreal this week, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon announced a new AI Task Force that has just 30 days to deliver recommendations for the federal government’s national strategy.
The group will focus on how the country can strengthen research, boost commercialization, and build infrastructure while addressing safety and trust.
The task force will work on an accelerated 30-day timeline and is expected to report back in November, with the recommendations feeding into the national AI strategy the government aims to publish later this year.
The work is divided into eight themes: research and talent, adoption across industry and government, commercialization, scaling champions and attracting investment, safe AI and public trust, education and skills, infrastructure, and security.
For business leaders, the signal is that Canada wants to move from talking about AI to setting rules and making investments that will shape how companies build and use the technology.
The composition of the group also matters. Members of the task force include a mix of academics and executives, from Joelle Pineau of Cohere (formerly head of AI research at Meta) to Patrick Pichette, the former Google CFO, and James Neufeld of Samdesk.
Why the sprint matters now
The decision to move quickly reflects how fast AI adoption is reshaping industries. Businesses across sectors are experimenting with automation, predictive analytics, and generative tools, but government policy has lagged.
By asking for recommendations in just one month, Ottawa is trying to match the pace of technology and send a signal that it intends to play a more active role in shaping how Canadians use and benefit from AI.
“Advancing the safe adoption and accelerated development of AI in Canada, while strengthening our digital sovereignty, is essential to building the strongest economy in the G7,” Solomon said in a statement. “That is why we launched the new AI Strategy Task Force to bring together Canada’s top minds to shape our path forward. Canada helped invent modern AI. The Government of Canada is committed to helping build the future with it — by Canadians, for Canadians, and for the world.”
For companies, the speed and scope of this work mean upcoming recommendations could influence decisions on investment, procurement, and partnerships.
If Canada sets clear priorities on infrastructure and commercialization, there’s potential to reduce reliance on foreign platforms and create more room for domestic firms to grow. If it sets strong guardrails on public trust and safety, businesses will need to show how their use of AI meets those expectations.
Either way, the task force’s conclusions will ripple into boardrooms quickly.
