Microsoft announced that the company will invest $19 billion through 2027 to further develop Canada's artificial intelligence industry, including $7.5 billion over the next two years. The company says it began investing in 2023.
With this investment, Microsoft is committed to building new digital and artificial intelligence infrastructure, including expansion of the Azure Canada Central and East Canada data center regions, to deliver secure, resilient and scalable cloud-based AI capabilities that will underpin modern government services. This new capacity is due to come online in the second half of 2026.
Microsoft is also launching a five-point plan to promote and protect Canada's digital sovereignty. The five-point plan includes establishing a new threat intelligence center in Ottawa, maintaining in-country processing and sovereign controls for Microsoft 365 Copilot across Canada, introducing confidential computing in Canadian data centers, supporting Canadian artificial intelligence developers, and ensuring the continuity of Canadian cloud services.
Along with this, Microsoft also says it is investing in Canadians to ensure people have access to the skills needed to succeed in what the tech giant calls the “age of artificial intelligence.” According to Microsoft, since July 2024, 5.7 million Canadians have gained free AI skills, and in 2026, 250,000 people will gain in-demand AI skills.
The tech giant has also partnered with Actua to help equip more than 20,000 Canadian youth with AI and STEM skills by 2026, and has partnered with non-profit AI impact center the Canadian Center for Non-Profit Digital Resilience.
This investment comes at an interesting time for the Canadian AI scene, as Edmonton police are testing artificial intelligence body cameras which will scan and compare faces against a database of about 7,000 people. This is also along with recently proposed federal budget for 2025which will allocate $1 billion to the development of Canadian artificial intelligence. However, contrary to this, the CRTC redefined “Canadian content” and works created by AI are excluded (One point notes that creative positions should be filled by Canadians, not artificial intelligence).
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made through our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide for free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us Here.
