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Carney names a National Council on Artificial Intelligence to advise on Canada’s AI for All strategy

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Prime Minister Mark Carney launched the Prime Minister’s National Council on Artificial Intelligence to give independent advice on the evolution of the AI for All strategy of June 2026, including faster adoption, national champions, sovereign AI infrastructure, making AI safer and protecting democracy. Members are Ajay Agrawal, Yoshua Bengio, Sanja Fidler, Gillian Hadfield, Jordan Jacobs, Eric Lamarre, Valérie Pisano, Senator Thomas Pitfield, Jody Thomas, Louis Vachon and Michelle Zatlyn, with Patrick Pichette, head of Digital Transformation Canada, ex officio. A small team in the Privy Council Office supports it; ministers and departments stay accountable for policy decisions. The release restates the strategy’s targets: $200 billion of additional growth and 250,000 AI-related jobs over five years, adoption from just over 12% to 60% by 2034, and up to 90,000 AI jobs and placements for young Canadians.

Why it matters

Canada’s AI strategy now has a standing advisory body in the Prime Minister’s office that includes Bengio and Hadfield on safety and governance alongside investors and a former national security adviser.

When
2 Oct 2026
ID
WTA-N-2026-0354
Where
Canada
Who
Prime Minister’s Office (Canada), Privy Council Office, Digital Transformation Canada, Mila, Radical Ventures, CPP Investments; Mark Carney, Yoshua Bengio, Gillian Hadfield, Sanja Fidler, Ajay Agrawal, Jordan Jacobs, Valérie Pisano, Michelle Zatlyn, Patrick Pichette, Jody Thomas, Louis Vachon, Eric Lamarre, Thomas Pitfield

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from Prime Minister of Canada, news release and the reporting credited above. Checked against the source on 21 Oct 2026.

Source copy: download the page as saved on 21 Oct 2026 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Earlier in this Storyline: What led hereCanada publishes national AI strategy ‘AI for All’ with six pillars

Data to measure this

Compare the years before 2026 with the years since in these series.

All data for Canada

Cite this story

WTA-N-2026-0354: “Carney names a National Council on Artificial Intelligence to advise on Canada’s AI for All strategy.” wheresthe.ai, 2 Oct 2026. https://wheresthe.ai/d/ca-pm-national-council-on-artificial-intelligence-2026-10/ (source: Prime Minister of Canada, news release).

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