What it will take to make Canada an AI powerhouse
Canada’s energy infrastructure and copyright laws will likely determine whether it can become a digital powerhouse or just a bit player. A recent expert roundtable convened by the Public Policy Forum explored Canada’s advantages over other countries when it comes to digital investment potential, as well as the barriers that could stop Canada from becoming a magnet for investment and development of burgeoning technology like A.I.
Much of Canada’s success may hinge on energy — not simply its production but, just as importantly, its transmission infrastructure. Canada has a lot of existing advantages that make it an appealing market, including abundant hydroelectric resources and nuclear capacity. But avoiding bottlenecks in energy transmission on an ageing network is a different story — and becoming a familiar issue as the country tries to hit transmission goals both street-level (in powering more EVs) and more lofty (in achieving federal net-zero targets).
In fact, Canada may already be behind the ball. As one panelist noted, energy has become the critical currency for anyone considering both continued growth with cloud services and visual infrastructure worldwide, and the revolution currently occuring around generative artificial intelligence will only make it more important. Energy is “at the core” of where Canada will end up in that revolution, they said.
(The event was conducted under Chatham House rule, so attendee names are not being included here.)
Governance issues could also set Canada back. Recent legislative decisions have made Canada’s digital investment landscape unpredictable and uneven. Earlier this year, for instance, Alberta suddenly imposed a seven-month moratorium on renewable energy projects. It created undue uncertainty for companies that had already made significant investments in green energy.
And Canada’s existing copyright laws, which place limits on the data mining that is necessary to train large language models (LLMs), could hinder the potential to develop them in Canada and squelch the advantage it has earned in this booming tech space.
Yet even if Canada were to grant new exemptions on data mining, potentially making it easier to develop LLMs here, there is still no way forward without a harmonized approach, the panel heard. If, for instance, a developer is able to innovate in the realm of generative AI, the infrastructure still must be in place to do it. In other words, there is no point in waiting for laws to be updated to then begin developing an energy strategy. “All of this has to be done in tandem,” one panelist said.
It also must all be protected. The panel heard that there is a critical need for robust cybersecurity initiatives, as well as a plan to reinforce Canada’s energy development and transmission infrastructure resilience. Canada needs a cross-sector collaborative effort.
Important, too, are robust international cybersecurity standards, especially as another possible renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) looms and in the face of evolving cyber threats, including from other countries.
On that note, the panel looked to Ukraine as an example of how attacks, both cyber- and physical, can bring down critical infrastructure and what can be done to stop it. In 2022, for example, Amazon worked with the Ukrainian government to download and export critical data like tax, banking and property information, out of the country and into the company’s cloud computing system.
By the end of 2022, Amazon had saved more than 10 million gigabytes of critical information infrastructure key to the country’s continued operation of its government, economy, tax system and banks. But resiliency must be built-in before disaster strikes, the panel heard. Even without the threat of invasion, Canada must work to save the future of its digital infrastructure.
Key takeaways:
Energy Infrastructure is Crucial: Canada’s abundant renewable and nuclear energy resources are key to supporting digital transformation and AI innovation, but addressing transmission bottlenecks and ensuring policy consistency are vital.
Copyright Law Modernization: Legislative changes are needed to enable the growth of generative AI development and to maintain Canada’s competitive edge in global technology markets.
Cybersecurity Prioritization: A proactive, collaborative approach involving public-private partnerships is essential to strengthen data security across interconnected critical infrastructure systems.
Join our network of policy leaders across Canada. Become a PPF member.