Welcome to this week's Sunday Briefing. In this edition:
The51 closes first fund anchored by BMO to back women founders
SensorUp closes growth financing led by Pender Ventures
HCLTech opens an AI lab in Calgary
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Canada releases its national AI strategy
Photo: Government of Canada
The federal government has released Canada's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, a six-pillar plan designed to accelerate AI adoption, build sovereign infrastructure, and position Canada as a global leader in the technology.
The strategy describes Canada as world-class in AI research, but lagging in adoption, with meaningful dependencies on foreign infrastructure. Only 12% of Canadian businesses currently use AI, well behind Nordic leaders at 29 to 42%. The plan sets out to change that.
Key targets include:
Increase business AI adoption from 12% to 60% by 2034
Create up to 250,000 new jobs through AI adoption by 2031
Create up to 90,000 AI-related job and work placement opportunities for young Canadians by 2031
Unlock nearly $200 billion in GDP gains from labour productivity
Build a world-leading public supercomputer by 2031
Reach 1 million entry-level post-secondary students with AI literacy training
The six pillars span protection, empowerment, adoption, infrastructure, champions, and partnerships.
The first pillar focuses on protecting Canadians from AI risks through updated privacy laws, online safety legislation, and a $50 million expansion of the Canadian AI Safety Institute. The second centres on AI literacy, including a National AI Literacy Initiative and a commitment to give all post-secondary students access to trusted AI agents.
The third pillar targets adoption across Canadian businesses, with a $500 million expansion of the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative and a $500 million LIFT program through BDC to help SMEs finance AI tools. The fourth addresses sovereign AI infrastructure — compute, data, and talent — including a $700 million expansion of the Compute Access Fund. Partnerships currently being finalized have proposed providing 850 megawatts of compute capacity by 2030, with potential scaling to 2.3 gigawatts.
The fifth pillar focuses on scaling Canadian AI champions at home through a new $500 million Canadian Tech Growth Fund. The sixth covers international partnerships, including the recently launched Sovereign Technology Alliance with Germany and 11 AI-specific agreements signed in the past year.
The strategy identifies five priority sectors where Canada's strengths converge with AI opportunity: health and life sciences, energy and natural resources, transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing and robotics.
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🤝 Funding, Deals, and Partnerships
The51 announces first close of Fund III, anchored by BMO. The51 Fund III will back women founders building the future of health, wealth and work – among Canada’s most underinvested entrepreneurs. The51
Calgary’s SensorUp closes growth financing led by Pender Ventures. Financing will go toward scaling SensorUP’s agentic operations platform. Betakit
HCLTech deepens Calgary investment with new AI lab. Global technology company HCLTech is opening the doors to its Calgary AI lab, marking the next phase of its Alberta expansion. Calgary Economic Development
📰 Need To Know
Neo Financial aims for rewards flexibility with launch of four more credit cards. The largest product expansion in the Calgary fintech’s history gives users more choices than ever when it comes to spending rewards, according to a statement from the firm. Calgary.Tech
Calgary high school students develop wearable technology for those with Parkinson's disease. Tail-inspired tech designed to help users with their balance. CBC News
Litus and UWin to blend nanotechnology innovation with hydrometallurgy expertise. The Alberta innovator is pioneering nanotechnology solutions for lithium extraction and recovery, while UWin is behind advanced hydrometallurgy technologies for precious metals recovery, e-waste recycling, and more. Calgary.Tech
Supersized data centres are coming to Canada. One province is at the epicentre. So far, Canada has 5 hyperscale data centres. Another 96 are in development. CBC News
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