Evidence of meeting #20 for Science and Research in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cohere.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
According to the global innovation index, we're sixth, not fifth.
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
You say we've made tremendous strides moving forward. Can you give me some examples of what those strides are and of the tremendous positive impact we've made on our economy since the 2017 launch of your AI strategy?
Liberal
Evan Solomon Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
I'm delighted to.
I will point to the recent Deloitte study that was put out with the Vector Institute, which pointed out that the AI sector alone has generated $100 billion to benefit Canada. That's a fantastic piece of innovation.
The digital sector is the fastest—
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
That's not what the experts are telling us, though. This money isn't coming into Canada. In fact, the experts are telling us we're losing our innovation.
We have great research here. I have U of W in my region. We have many incubators in my region. Kitchener Centre is Canada's innovation capital, but we do not monetize and commercialize here in Canada.
We're losing our IP. We're losing our data. It's going to the States or abroad. What is your strategy to make sure it stays here in Canada?
Liberal
Evan Solomon Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
I also agree with you that we have tremendous research...and your region is one of them, and what's happening—
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I request that the minister be given an opportunity to answer the question. It's one person at a time, please.
Liberal
Evan Solomon Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Again, let's not talk down the incredible work that's happened at our AI institutes. Let's—
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
I'm not talking down anything. I think we have great research. I'd like to know what your strategy is, please.
Liberal
Evan Solomon Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
I'm going to point to stats. The honourable member asked me for statistics.
Conservative
Liberal
Evan Solomon Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Okay. The strategy will continue to invest in AI infrastructure. For example, our AI compute access fund of $300 million gives small and medium-sized businesses—
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
What's behind the money? Money is money, but what is your strategy?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
It's one person at a time, please. I would ask the member to please respect the minister and let him answer the question.
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
He's not answering. That's the problem.
Two billion in taxpayer dollars is in this next budget. We understand, yes, there's investment, but what's the strategy behind the investment?
Liberal
Evan Solomon Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
If I may, I'm delighted to talk about the strategy. One strategy is to make sure we give compute access to small and medium-sized business that need it to innovate. We were happy that when we opened that fund, it was oversubscribed, with 1,300 companies applying. That's part of it.
Building a supercompute facility is part of it; there is $700 million for that. Investing with our sovereign compute fund in champion companies, as we've done with companies like Cohere, is part of the strategy.
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Are there any guardrails to ensure that the data and IP from these investments remain here in Canada and that we have a sovereign approach for these investments.
Liberal
Liberal
Evan Solomon Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
—investment the Canadian government makes, we make sure that it's a Canadian company, or there are guardrails against things like—
December 3rd, 2025 / 5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Liberal
Evan Solomon Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Yes, and making sure there are no headquarter changes. Those are always factors in determining what we invest in.
Going back to the strategy, one way to see results is the fact that.... An independent study by Deloitte says it's generating $100 billion. There are 800,000 people working—
Conservative
Kelly DeRidder Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
That doesn't have anything to do with the strategy. You're giving me some talking points, so I'm going to switch gears. What I've learned from this is that, effectively, nine years later we are starting over.
There is another problem: We don't have the grid capacity to lead AI globally. You said that we are global leaders in AI capacity, but the experts at this committee have said that we don't have the grid capacity for the supercompute buildings. Who is—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
The time is up, MP DeRidder and Minister. We will come back in the next round.
We will now proceed to MP Deschênes-Thériault.
Please go ahead for five minutes.