Microsoft has announced that it’s investing $19 billion until 2027 to further develop the Canadian AI industry, including $7.5 billion over the next two years. The company says that it started investing back in 2023.
With this investment, Microsoft aims to build new digital and AI infrastructure, including expansions to the Azure Canada Central and Canada East data centre regions, to deliver secure, sustainable, and scalable cloud AI capabilities that power modern public services. This new capacity is set to come online within the second half of 2026.
Microsoft is also launching a five-point plan to promote and protect Canada’s digital sovereignty. This five-point plan includes building a new threat intelligence hub in Ottawa, maintaining in-country processing and sovereign controls for Microsoft 365 Copilot on Canadian soil, implementing confidential computing in Canadian data centres, supporting Canadian AI developers, and ensuring the continuity of Canadian Cloud Services.
Alongside this, Microsoft also claims that it is investing in Canadians to ensure that people have access to the skills needed to succeed in what the tech giant describes as an “AI era.” According to Microsoft, 5.7 million Canadians have engaged with free AI skilling since July 2024, and 250,000 will be equipped with in-demand AI credentials in 2026.
The tech giant has also partnered with Actua to help bring AI and STEM skills to more than 20,000 Canadian youths in 2026, alongside partnering with the Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience’s Nonprofit AI Impact Hub.
This investment comes at an interesting time for the Canadian AI scene, as Edmonton police are testing AI-powered body cameras that will scan and compare faces to a database of around 7000 people. This is also alongside the recently proposed 2025 Federal budget, which will allocate $1 billion to boost Canadian AI. However, contrary to this, the CRTC redefined ‘Canadian content’ and excluded AI-made works (one point notes that Canadians, not AI, must hold creative positions).
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