Canada’s 1st minister of AI: What comes next?

On May 13, 2025, Toronto Centre MP and former journalist Evan Solomon became the first Canadian minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation.

With that, Canada joins many other countries that are heavily investing into the field and building a strong global presence in the industry. In the fall 2025 budget, which includes the minister of AI post, Canada expects to provide more than $925 million over the next five years to support large-scale sovereign public AI infrastructure and access to its compute capacity for both public and private research.

Simultaneously, the government plans to cut around 16,000 jobs from the federal workforce. This seems to be an attempt by the government to reduce public sector costs, but it may also worsen the speed and quality of services delivered.

A 2025 Leger survey shows that 85 per cent of Canadians think that the government should implement regulations on AI technology to ensure safe and ethical use.

However, Solomon has said that regulations should be “light, tight, and right” to prevent loss of capital for companies. An aspect of his job is to promote the widespread adoption of the technology and influence Canadians that AI has more benefits than threats.

Opening a cabinet position focused on AI is a good move, as the technology is developing and increasing its impact across various industries every single day. In this reality, AI should not be prohibited or avoided, but controlled through the early stages — and this can be achieved through regulations on a federal level.

But creating a new ministerial post that has control over such a big budget may also have some possible disadvantages. It can add to government bureaucracy, where political influences may cause biases to rise in maintaining the technology.

Although Solomon speaks about the importance of regulations that will not hurt companies, it still doesn’t seem like enough considering the potential harms of AI and the global mistrust of the technology.

In a 2025 study by KPMG International and the University of Melbourne, which surveyed 1,025 people in the country, four in five Canadians are concerned about the potential negative outcomes of AI. Many Canadians are worried about loss of human connection, cybersecurity risks, and the spread of misinformation.

Solomon’s current policy seems to be primarily focused on innovation and economic advantage, rather than addressing these public concerns. To build trust among Canadians, the government should focus on investing into cybersecurity, prioritizing stronger data protection laws and organizing AI initiatives with educational purpose.

Instead, Solomon is more concerned about Canada falling behind other countries in the digital area, which should not be an excuse to avoid stricter regulations.

In terms of opportunities, Canada already has a strong research ecosystem and collaborations with leading technology companies. AI could strengthen Canada’s global presence and completeness, while being very beneficial in sectors, such as medicine and transportation, but only once implemented ethically and after considering human perspectives.

After the Tumbler Ridge shooting, Solomon announced he will meet with the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, to demand more information on what changes the AI giant will make to its safety protocols.

However, Solomon left that meeting “disappointed,” feeling that OpenAI had not offered much clarity on its changes or how it will go about enacting them.

As of late, Canada is facing a mass spread of disinformation through AI-generated content. One of such examples is AI-generated images showing the CN Tower in Toronto to be on fire, which went viral within a couple of hours and spread mistrust and public confusion.

Many also worry that AI will be used to replace them in the workforce — this concern is especially prevalent among young people.

The government’s AI regulations matter most for the future generation.