A new report from Deloitte Canada says Canada is the top country with the highest concentration of artificial intelligence (AI) expertise and talent, when compared to other G7 countries.
“Canada ranked first in the five-year average year-over-year growth rate in AI talent concentration compared to G7 nations,” they write in a statement about the report’s publication. “The report also details the necessary steps that Canadian companies must take to seize on this moment of opportunity with this globally transformative technology.”
Entitled Impact and Opportunities: Canada’s National AI Ecosystem Report 2023, the report also says Canada ranks second in the number of AI patents filed nationally, while researchers produced more AI publications per capita in 2022 than any other G7 nation.
Other trends noted include the number of actively engaged AI professionals in Canada rising 29 per cent in the past year; $2.57-billion was invested in research and development in Canada.
Notably, however, they say 86 per cent of companies surveyed in Canada had concerns about AI’s ethical risks – 51 per cent cited the potential for bias and low-quality results as a concern. “When it comes to adopting responsible AI principles, there is also room to improve,” they continue. “52 per cent of surveyed organizations always or sometimes adhered to AI cybersecurity risk-management and human-centered design principles while just 35 per cent of respondents said the same with respect to AI model life cycle documentation principles.”
The report also notes that Canada, despite having a wealth of talent, lags slightly in AI adoption and commercialization.
“We must be mindful of the challenges that exist across the AI ecosystem, including responsible and ethical AI deployment, targeted investments to scale AI-fuelled enterprises, talent acquisition and AI fluency,” says Deloitte Canada’s CEO, Anthony Viel. “By addressing these hurdles, we can move toward an environment that encourages innovation and provides a platform for AI-driven initiatives to thrive. Our collective efforts today will determine our position on the world stage tomorrow.”
