Quick Quotes: How business, labour and others are reacting to Canada’s AI strategy

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled Canada’s new artificial intelligence strategy Thursday and the document drew swift reactions from many different corners.

Here is what the prime minister, business and labour leaders, opposition politicians and others have to say about the strategy.

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“The question isn’t whether AI will transform our lives. It will. AI is already changing how we work, how we learn and how we connect. The question is, will it improve the lives of all Canadians or benefit only a few? And that’s why we must take a positive, pragmatic and prudent approach that builds safe, reliable and sovereign AI for workers and businesses, for Canada, and for our allies.”

— Prime Minister Mark Carney

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“Today’s announcement was a lot of fanfare, short on details and a lot of hollow words from a podium. I think Canadians were expecting real answers on safety, on security, on privacy and on the future of AI in this country.”

— Melissa Lantsman, deputy Conservative leader

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“There are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of jobs that are at stake by the widespread adoption of AI. So I don’t believe that mass adoption of AI will create jobs, I think it will cost jobs. Until there’s measures that are in place that will address that, I don’t think this strategy is complete.”

— Don Davies, NDP Parliamentary leader

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“The government’s National AI Strategy reflects the opportunity ahead: growing the economy and helping small businesses, improving services, driving scientific discovery and helping all Canadians use AI safely. We welcome the leadership of Prime Minister (Mark) Carney, (Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan) Solomon and the Government of Canada. We are proud to be a partner to Canada’s AI ecosystem and are committed to helping ensure AI is useful and worthy of people’s trust.”

— Ann O’Leary, OpenAI vice president of global policy

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“At a time when countries around the world are competing to build the next generation of technology leaders, Canada needs policies that help innovators build, scale and compete globally. AI for All contains some promising measures but it falls short of providing a clear and focused plan to achieve that objective.”

— Laurent Carbonneau, Council of Canadian Innovators.

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“Canada’s unions are united in calling for stronger AI laws, independent oversight, protections against surveillance and discrimination, and a greater role for unions in shaping how AI is used … We welcome the federal government’s proactive approach to this issue and look forward to working together to ensure AI protects rights, strengthens equity and benefits all workers.”

— Bea Bruske, Canadian Labour Congress president

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“Canada just did something big: it put openness at the heart of its national AI strategy. With this plan, Prime Minister Carney and (Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan) Solomon have made a clear choice, that Canada’s AI future should be sovereign, trustworthy and built to serve people, not rented from a handful of foreign providers. Mozilla applauds that choice, and the embrace of open source AI that makes it achievable.”

— Mark Surman, president of the free software community Mozilla

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“Trust cannot be a policy objective on its own. It requires clear accountability, transparency and confidence that AI risks are being managed effectively. Businesses and workers will be looking for greater clarity on what comes next.”

— Melissa Robertson, AI and technology lead at the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada

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 “The fact that the word copyright doesn’t appear once in the 50-page strategy is a miss when it comes to protecting Canadian culture, voices, and stories. The strategy does not offer protections for journalistic content, nor does it mitigate the societal risks of the brazen theft of IP by the AI companies, which is happening on an industrial scale.”

— Paul Deegan, News Media Canada president and CEO


This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press