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ARTICLE · 30 JANUARY 2026

AI Sovereignty: What Canadian Businesses Need To Know

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
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Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

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As the world rapidly develops, adopts and invests in artificial intelligence (AI) systems and infrastructure, "AI sovereignty" has emerged as a priority of the Canadian federal government.

CanadaPrivacy
Wendy Mee
Wendy Mee
Ellie Marshall
Ellie Marshall
Mallory Gallant
Mallory Gallant
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As the world rapidly develops, adopts and invests in artificial intelligence (AI) systems and infrastructure, "AI sovereignty" has emerged as a priority of the Canadian federal government. In this bulletin, we explain what AI sovereignty is and related AI considerations that may impact your organization.

What Is AI Sovereignty?

"Canadian AI sovereignty" refers to Canada's ability to control how AI tools, systems and technologies are developed, deployed, governed and secured within its jurisdiction. Fundamentally, AI sovereignty is concerned with:

  • Who is developing and controlling AI systems
  • What kinds of data are used or inputted into AI systems and where such data is stored or processed

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