Canada leads the world in AI talent concentration

A recent report published by Deloitte Canada’s AI Institute outlines the ways in which the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy has created significant social and economic benefits for Canada, with our AI sector outperforming that of many G7 peers. The report also details necessary steps that Canadian companies must take to seize on this moment of opportunity with this globally transformative technology.

Impact and Opportunities: Canada's National AI Ecosystem Report - 2023 was prepared by researchers at Deloitte Canada in collaboration with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and Canada’s three National AI Institutes: Amii in Edmonton, Mila in Montréal, and the Vector Institute in Toronto.

A discussion of the findings will be included at a panel on September 27, 2023 at ScaleAI’s ALL-IN conference with the leadership of the CIFAR Pan-Canadian AI Strategy and National AI Institutes, moderated by April Fong of The Logic. Additionally, Deloitte Canada will host a webinar about the report findings on September 28, 2023.

Among the report’s highlights:

• Canada ranked first in the 5-year average year-over-year (YoY) growth rate in AI talent concentration compared to G7 nations.
• The number of AI patents filed nationally across Canada rose by 27% in 2021-2022 with 158 patents, and 57% in 2022-2023 with 248 patents. This rate of increase puts Canada second among G7 nations in 2022-2023.
• Canada ranks third among G7 countries in terms of its level of per capita VC investment in AI enablers, developers, and users, trailing only the US and UK.
• Canada leads the world in terms of bringing more women into AI roles, achieving the highest YoY percentage change in female AI talent globally since 2019, including 67% in 2022 alone.
• Canadian AI researchers produced more AI publications per capita in 2022 than any other G7 nation.

“We know that AI is not a passing trend; it is an ever-evolving force that will reshape industries and society, making it essential for individuals and businesses to invest in AI," said Cam Linke, CEO of Amii. "Guided by our mission—AI for good and for all—Amii will continue to lead with ambition to increase broad-based AI literacy, advance fundamental AI research that tackles the most pressing and complex challenges facing the world today, and empower industry with responsible and ethical AI tools in order to stay ahead of and harness its transformative power. The barriers to getting started in applied AI have never been lower: Now is the time to act. It is no longer a choice of whether to be involved in AI or not—it’s whether to lead or be led.”

The report also includes findings from a survey conducted in March 2023 of 375 business executives and senior managers operating enterprises across Canada. It found significant room for improvement in the area of AI adoption, with just 26% of surveyed organizations having launched one or more AI implementations, compared with 34% globally. 42% had exploratory AI pilots in place, on par with their global counterparts. Only 36% of surveyed organizations globally felt their data-management and data-governance process maturity was in the mid-to-high range.

The report argues that Canada must sustain and accelerate Canada’s AI advantage through a multi-pronged approach that includes:

• Continuing to attract and grow world-leading talent;
• Strengthening AI fluency within Canada’s businesses, public sector, and communities;
• Investing in scalable AI opportunities;
• Continuing to lead global discussions around AI governance;
• Identifying strong use cases that drive value; and
• Leveraging CIFAR and Canada’s National AI Institutes to drive responsible AI development and use.

The full report is available here: Impact and Opportunities: Canada's National AI Ecosystem Report - 2023