Science and Research Committee on Feb. 2nd, 2026

[Mark Schaan]

The MOUs are signed by the Minister of Government Transformation, as well as the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation. It's a signalling mechanism to indicate the strategic value of the corporation to the Canadian ecosystem. Those two ministers have authorities within their own accountabilities to be able to then go through procurement or other exercises. It's a mechanism by which they are signalling the value both to the ecosystem and then also to other departments as they proceed with their own IT build-outs.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

The lack of transparency in that response.... That was great government-speak. I apologize for saying that, but somebody watching at home would have no clue what you just said, no understanding.

I mean, we've signed an MOU with Cohere—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, but time is up, MP Baldinelli.

With that, we will proceed to MP Noormohamed for five minutes, please.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the officials for being here today.

One of the things that my part of the country, British Columbia, has always been interested in and leading on is quantum, and of course a lot of substantial and meaningful development in AI as well.

When the department is working through the types of decisions that it's making.... Can you share a little bit—obviously, without disclosing or divulging where things are going to land—about the importance of British Columbia in the development of Canada's view of the world in terms of quantum and AI?

[Mark Schaan]

We are blessed as a country to have extraordinary capability and talent across the entirety of the ecosystem. When the original decision was made about the three institutes, there were many factors that fed into that. I think it's noteworthy that, with the associates, the CIFAR chairs associated with the overall pan-Canadian AI strategy, there is a preponderance of chairs that exist within B.C. academic institutions with relationships to the overall CIFAR chairs. In fact, I think the province argues—and I haven't checked the numbers myself—that it has the largest number of associate chairs by region, outside of those for whom an institute is actually present. That's super valuable and obviously has created a significant amount of capability, particularly as it relates to applied AI.

Also noteworthy is the fact that the quantum ecosystem in British Columbia is extraordinarily rich, and it includes one of the companies that are participating in the Canadian quantum champions program. This company has been leading the world in many ways in terms of the path toward fault-tolerant quantum computing. I think it's safe to say that it is an enormous contributor.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Obviously, one of the things I worry about—not just as a former tech entrepreneur, but as a British Columbian and as a Canadian who cares a lot about this space—is making sure that Canadian companies and Canadian winners stay in Canada.

What can you share with us and how would you describe the efforts being made by your department to ensure that Canadian entrepreneurs in this space are able to stay here? Particularly, how can Canadian leaders in their fields, the companies that are really leading—the “champions”, as you call them—make sure they stay in Canada and continue to grow and develop in Canada?

[Mark Schaan]

There are a number of ways we can answer that, I think. One is obviously the $1.7-billion talent initiative that's been launched by the government to try to ensure that we are bringing talent and then retaining talent. The CIFAR chairs themselves have funded almost 130 fantastic researchers who've been able to make Canadian institutions their home and develop AI capacities around them, including with their labs and their graduate students.

Also, you can take the genesis of the Canadian quantum champions program in and of itself. It's not a secret that the United States DARPA program has a quantum benchmarking initiative aimed at trying to grow their own quantum capabilities, and they invited Canadian companies, among the world's companies, to participate in a benchmarking initiative that would move them through phases, ultimately with the hope, I think, of trying to ensure that those companies relocate to the United States.

The Canadian quantum champions program is a response to ensure that our Canadian quantum champions have the capacity to grow and retain themselves here in Canada. That's why it was so important that we got through phase one and allowed those four companies to have a pathway to continue their pursuit of quantum capabilities here in Canada.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

The reason I'm double-clicking on this is that if we listened to my colleagues opposite, folks would be left with the impression that the federal government is giving money to Canadian companies that are then either leaving or giving their money to U.S. businesses. What assurances do Canadians have that the investments the government is making in Canadian businesses and Canadian companies will benefit Canadians?

[Mark Schaan]

The due diligence process of the department is quite rigorous. We have evolved our continued contribution agreement standard clauses, as well as our overall approach, to ensure that we have protections in place and guardrails for Canadians, so that, whether it's research or a company commercialization project, there are effective mechanisms in place to ensure that it serves the public interest.

That varies depending on the nature of the activity. In research, that looks like one thing, whereas in commercialization it often means that we have clauses in place to ensure that there are protections for Canadians and to ensure the retention of intellectual property, of capacity and, ultimately, of Canadian strength.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

The time is up.

We'll now proceed to MP Blanchette-Joncas for five minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Madam Chair, I would like a point of information.

Until what time are House of Commons resources available in case we want to extend the work of the committee? I want to make sure so that we don't waste time in the second hour of the study.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We will check on that.

Please proceed with your time.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Could you please check on it right away?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

It will take some time to get an answer. If you want to continue, I'll let you know.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

I'll wait, Madam Chair. I'm a patient man.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

The information goes to the translation services.

Your time is going on, so please proceed. It will take some time to get some answers.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

I'll wait, Madam Chair, if I may.

Since I asked for a point of information, my clock should not continue running, according to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have to check with them until what time we have the resources available. We cannot make them stay.

I'll suspend the meeting so that we can get some answers.

The meeting is suspended.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I call the meeting to order.

We are getting that information.

There is no such thing in any standing order that we have to stop the clock for getting that information. You have two and a half minutes left. You can go ahead with your question, or your clock will keep on running until we find the answer.

[Jennifer McKelvie, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

I'm happy to cede my time to the member if he'd like to finish his questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We started at 4:35. The plan was to end the meeting at 5:35. We are checking that information.

If he doesn't want to use his time, that is up to the member, but there is no such thing in the Standing Orders.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Could you just let me know, Madam Chair? You're telling me that when I request information, I'm not allowed to know how long we can extend today's study with House resources.

Is that correct?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

There is no such thing as a point of information, but you have requested information. The clerk is trying to get an answer from the translation services and from the authorities about the time, but I'm telling you that your clock is going on. Your five minutes will come to an end once those five minutes are done.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Let me just understand what's going on, Madam Chair.

I'm still waiting for information. Can you explain to me which standing order states that a request for information to the chair does not prevent a committee member's clock from running?