Key Points

1. On November 4, 2025, the Government of Canada released Budget 2025: Canada Strong

   
   

2. The federal government made several proposals to invest in AI and quantum computing

   
   

3. One of the first things that Canadians will likely see is fresh feedback on how the consultations went, along with an update on the status of the development of the AI Strategy

On November 4, 2025, the Government of Canada announced the release of Budget 2025: Canada Strong.

Generally speaking, the federal government plans to transform Canada’s economy from one that is reliant on a single trade partner, to one that is stronger, more self-sufficient, and more resilient to global shocks.

Essentially, Canada has just delivered an investment budget: the goal is to spend less on government operations and invest more in the workers, businesses, and nation-building infrastructure that will grow the economy.

More specifically, the budget includes a total of $60 billion in savings and revenues over five years, and makes generational investments in housing, infrastructure, defence, productivity, and competitiveness. These strategic investments will enable $1 trillion in total investments over the next five years through smarter public spending and stronger capital investment.

Budget 2025 rests on two fiscal anchors:

1. Balancing day-to-day operating spending with revenues by 2028–29, shifting spending toward investments that grow the economy

   
   

2. Maintaining a declining deficit-to-GDP ratio to ensure disciplined fiscal management for future generations

Indeed, Budget 2025 was passionately delivered by The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue. He noted that these are difficult times, but we need to rest assured that the government will not back down, will be there for Canadians now and for as long as it takes, and will do what Canadians do best in times of need—we look after each other and help each other. He stated, “That’s the Canadian way, our way!” That said, he acknowledged that meeting this challenge requires both ambition and discipline.

To mark the day, Champagne even made some shoes for the occasion: they were made by Canadians for Canadians to hammer home the point that we need to be our own best customers. We cannot forget the ending of the speech: “Long live Canada!”

The entire budget is a lengthy document; this article deals with what the budget has articulated with respect to Canada’s plans for AI.

What Does Budget 2025 Say about AI?

Canada wants to seize the full potential of AI. The purpose is to create opportunities for millions of Canadians, businesses, and the economy. Budget 2025 will facilitate the creation of AI compute infrastructure, including the development of a Sovereign Canadian Cloud. Ultimately, AI will help to create new jobs and economic growth. It is not only about AI: the government plans to allocate funds to foster innovation in both AI and quantum technologies.

More precisely, Budget 2025 aims to:

• Provide $925.6 million over five years, starting in 2025-26: this is, to support a large-scale sovereign public AI infrastructure that will boost AI compute availability and support access to sovereign AI compute capacity for public and private research. The investment will ensure that Canada has the capacity needed to be globally competitive in a secure and sovereign environment. Of this amount, $800 million will be sourced from funds that were previously provisioned in the fiscal framework. This means that $800 million of the $925.6-million investment will come from funds that were set aside by the last federal budget, which announced a total of $2 billion to boost domestic AI compute capacity and build public supercomputing infrastructure

  
  

• Enable the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, Evan Solomon, to engage with industry to identify new promising AI infrastructure projects and enter into Memoranda of Understanding with those projects. Along the same lines, the  government intends to enable the Canada Infrastructure Bank to invest in AI infrastructure projects

  
  

• Allocate $25 million over six years, starting in 2025-26, and $4.5 million ongoing for Statistics Canada to implement the Artificial Intelligence and Technology Measurement Program (TechStat). TechStat will use data and insights to measure how AI is used by organizations, and understand its impact on Canadian society, the labour force, and the economy

  
  

• Explore options for the National Research Council of Canada’s Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre to best position it to attract private capital, scale its operations, and serve as a platform for Canadian innovation and new photonic applications, including in the face of the rise of AI and related compute infrastructure

  
  

• Provide, through the Defence Industrial Strategy, $334.3 million over five years to strengthen Canada’s quantum ecosystem. It is important to note that computing problems that are currently considered to be intractable even with the most powerful classical computers could be solved using quantum computers

  
  

• Enable Canada to unlock significant economic benefits through commercialising the associated intellectual property (IP) and being among the first to put it to use. For example, when it comes to IP, the budge plans on providing $84.4 million over four years, starting in 2026-27, to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to extend the Elevate IP program, as well as $22.5 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to renew support for the Innovation Asset Collective’s Patent Collective

  
  

• Establish a new Office of Digital Transformation that will lead the adoption of AI and other new technologies across government. On top of that, there will be near-term procurement of made-in-Canada sovereign AI tools for the public service, which will lead to a more efficient government

  
  

• Enable the Shared Services Canada (SSC) and the Department of National Defence and the Communications Security Establishment to will develop a made-in-Canada AI tool which will be deployed across the federal government. The goal is to facilitate the partnership between the SSC and leading Canadian AI companies to develop the internal tool

As I wrote about here, the government announced in September, 2025 the launch of an AI Strategy Task Force and a “30-day national sprint” (consultations) that will help shape Canada’s approach to AI. The government is set to develop a new AI strategy by the end of 2025. It will also consider whether new AI incentives and supports should be provided. Already, the government has decided to work with Cohere to use AI to improve the public service. In fact, the parties signed an agreement to set up an early-stage collaboration so that Cohere can identify areas where AI can enhance public service operations.

What Can We Take from Budget 2025?

As Champagne has highlighted, Canada is strong and has a lot going for it. AI and quantum computing are part of this. In the context of this investment budget, we see that the government has allocated significant resources to improve Canada’s AI and quantum computing posture.

One of the first things that Canadians will likely see is fresh feedback on how the consultations went, along with an update on the status of the development of the AI Strategy. We can only wait and see if the above proposals will come to fruition.