Author: Tara Sarvnaz Raissi, Beneva
With the Digital Charter Implementation Act (“Bill C-27”) in limbo as a result of Parliament’s prorogation, AI’s fast-paced advancements left a domestic regulatory gap. In response, the Canadian government launched non-legislative initiatives to foster responsible AI innovation and governance.
On March 6, 2025, the Honourable Francois-Phillipe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced a number of initiatives to bolster Canada’s leadership in AI. Below, is a brief summary of each new measure.
Established in 2019, the Council brings together experts from industry, academia, and the government to strengthen Canada’s position as a global leader in AI. It encourages AI advancements that are grounded in human rights, transparency and openness to promote public confidence in the technology.
Following the March 6th announcement, new Council members were brought on to invite new perspectives and expertise on rapidly developing topics such as AI governance and safety. Council’s mandate was also broadened to provide comprehensive advice on policy issues such as the implementation of a $2.4 billion investment to bolster the AI sector, including spending as follows:
- AI Compute Access Fund: enhance computing capabilities and technological infrastructure.
- AI Safety Institute of Canada: establish an institute dedicated to ensuring the safe development of AI technologies.
- Support of AI Startups and Adoption: invest to accelerate the adoption of AI in critical sectors such as agriculture, clean technology, healthcare and manufacturing.
- Workforce Support: allocate funds to assist workers impacted by AI adoption.
This new group will provide technical advice on the risks associated with AI systems and mitigation strategies such as:
- the latest research on AI safety,
- emerging risks due to advances in AI,
- best practices and standards for AI governance, and
- international developments in governance and AI safety.
This new guide helps organizations and AI managers apply Canada’s Voluntary Code of Conduct (“Code”) on the Responsible Development and Management of Advanced Generative AI Systems. It recognizes six principles (Safety, accountability, transparency, fairness and equity, human oversight & monitoring and validity robustness) and eighteen measures that follow international standards.
The Code outlines key measures for ensuring AI systems are safe, transparent and ethically managed. It provides a framework for responsible AI governance, guiding organizations in AI adoption, procurement and risk mitigation that can be summarized as follows:
- AI Governance Basics
- Establish a clear vision for AI use case and integration.
- Ensure that AI governance aligns with existing organizational structures
- Responsible AI Procurement
- Require vendor transparency on system development, limitations, and bias testing.
- Use evaluation criteria covering ethics, technical capabilities, compliance and regulatory risks.
- AI Risk Management & Safety
- Identify potential risks (bias, misinformation, cybersecurity threats, and misuse).
- Conduct comprehensive impact assessments on vulnerable groups and fundamental rights.
- Implement continuous testing and risk monitoring.
- Engage diverse stakeholders across departments to assess and mitigate risks.
The Code is flexible to allow businesses to adapt best practices based on their specific AI use case. It complements existing Canadian laws and sector specific recommendations but does not replace them. Managers are encouraged to familiarize themselves with their existing obligations under law and policy in Canada, particularly in regulated industries such as healthcare and medical systems.
Six additional organizations have committed to the Code, joining 40 others in pledging responsible AI development and management. This growing participation reinforces Canada’s dedication to ethical AI practices and strengthens alignment with the government’s proposed AI governance framework.
