OTTAWA — Canada must act to maintain its international leadership in AI research in the face of a global race for talent that has reached a “climax,” the country’s national AI institutes warned the government last summer.
They warned that funding for a key program was drying up and told the federal government it needed to replenish it to keep the best AI talent in the country.
“An unprecedented global war for AI talent is underway, which demands an immediate and robust response from the federal government to secure existing AI talent and expand our base of AI expertise,” they wrote.
The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, also known as CIFAR, and Canada’s three national AI institutes made the request in a July letter accompanied by a backgrounder, obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom of information request.
The Liberal government has boasted about Canada’s leadership in AI research, which has two so-called godfathers of AI. This national strength in basic research is a common topic of discussion for Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon.
“Competition to recruit leading AI researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs has reached fever pitch, driven by both private sector giants and aggressive nation-state strategies,” the organizations said.
CIFAR and the three national AI institutes — Mila, Vector and Amii — told the government that funding for a national AI research chairs program would expire, depriving Canada of a means to recruit talent after March 31, 2026.
There are 126 CIFAR AI research chairs at 17 universities across six provinces, they said. “The caliber of these researchers includes THE world leaders, such as Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton and ACM Turing Prize winners Yoshua Bengio and Richard Sutton,” the groups wrote.
“By researcher, the Canada-CIFAR AI Chairs constitute the third most impactful AI research group in the world. »
They said that Canadian research chairs are behind Google and the Max Planck Institutes, and ahead of Meta, MIT, Oxford, Stanford and Tsinghua, as well as many others.
The caliber of these researchers means they are the target of “recruitment efforts by foreign institutions and companies offering financially generous offers,” the groups said. They noted that in previous years, research chairs were abandoned for Elon Musk’s xAI, ETH Zurich and MIT.
They said the program, “a historic force in attracting and nurturing AI talent, is now under immense pressure.”
“Without a strategic and sustained response,” they added, “Canada’s ability to retain these leading minds and, by extension, their innovations and the corresponding economic benefits they support, will be compromised.” »
The paper warns that university recruitment cycles mean researchers start looking for positions nine to 12 months in advance, meaning decisions about jobs in 2026-2027 are being made now.
“The best AI talent in Canada therefore needs an immediate strong signal from the government that allows them to plan their future careers here and gives them pause before considering aggressive international offers,” they said.
The groups requested an additional $186 million over 10 years, as part of a $434 million fund that would also be used to support early-stage AI projects and their commercialization, according to a briefing note prepared for Solomon.
The groups argued that the marketing gap in Canada is also part of the problem.
“The federal government invests millions in researchers, but does not sufficiently facilitate the creation of early-stage deep tech companies when they choose to leave the lab and enter startup ecosystems,” the groups said.
“This gap between groundbreaking research and commercial enterprise means that intellectual property developed in Canada and the talent behind it frequently leave the country. »
Elissa Strome, executive director of pan-Canadian AI strategy at CIFAR, said in an email that the group is waiting for the government to release its new AI strategy before providing comment. Amii, Mila and Vector didn’t respond.
The letter was sent to the government ahead of this fall’s federal budget, which did not provide funding. The previous two iterations of the National AI Strategy included funding for organizations.
Salomon’s communications director also highlighted the updated national strategy in his response.
“Decisions related to the renewal or extension of specific programs, including the CIFAR AI Chairs program, are being considered as part of the broader work underway on the updated national AI strategy. While this work continues, no decisions have been announced at this time,” said Peter Wall.
No date has been set for the publication of this strategy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published January 21, 2026.
Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press