Artificial intelligence is reshaping economies, jobs, and geopolitics, and Ontario has positioned itself as a global AI leader by focusing on talent, governance, and innovation. Speaking at the India Today AI Summit,Victor Anthony Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, emphasized the province’s strategic approach to AI, offering lessons for India and other nations.
Ontario’s AI journey dates back decades, with Nobel laureateGeoffrey Hintonpioneering machine learning research in Toronto. The province has since created theVector Institute, hosting 800 researchers, and graduates over 1,100 AI master’s students annually, with nearly 1,700 currently enrolled. Last year alone, Ontario added almost 17,000 new AI workers, demonstrating rapid ecosystem expansion. Education is central to this success: Ontario graduates 86,000 STEM students each year and has allocated USD 750 million to increase this number to over 110,000 annually, ensuring a steady pipeline of talent for AI firms.
Fedeli highlighted that AI is transforming, not merely replacing, jobs. Across sectors, AI-driven automation—from autonomous cleaning machines to AI-enabled mining drones—is enhancing productivity. Yet, he stressed the need to adapt: workers who embrace AI, reskill, and innovate will thrive in this evolving landscape. To support unskilled and transitioning workers, Ontario has launched large-scale retraining initiatives, offering free education for nurses, electricians, paramedics, and carpenters, while simultaneously creating one million new jobs by reducing business costs and taxes.
Data privacy and public trust remain critical. Fedeli noted that sensitive data, such as healthcare records, cannot be monetized even if anonymized, underscoring ethical boundaries in AI deployment. Beyond talent and trust, Ontario’s AI ecosystem relies on critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, and lithium for batteries and infrastructure, with investment opportunities for Indian companies in mining and processing.
The session also explored India–Canada collaboration. Fedeli emphasized that India is a reliable partner, with potential for joint efforts in AI governance, research, and industrial development. The discussion underscored that leadership in AI depends on a combination oftalent development, ethical frameworks, and transnational cooperation—lessons that India can apply to strengthen its own AI ecosystem while ensuring inclusive, equitable growth.
