Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia
Senior Director, Digital Economy, Technology, and Innovation & Future of AI Council Lead,
Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Katie Preiss
Vice President of Public Policy,
TELUS
Canada has a chance to lead in secure, sustainable AI — but seizing it demands bold infrastructure and smart policy.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just another technological wave. It is the most transformative force in economic history. It is redefining how we work, compete and create value. For Canada, AI offers a clear path to closing our long-standing productivity gap. But adoption at scale requires sovereign safeguards for our essential infrastructure and sensitive data, which is now central to how governments and industries think about digital infrastructure, AI, and public trust.
In this conversation, Katie Preiss, Vice President of Public Policy at TELUS, and Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia, Senior Director of Digital Economy, Technology, and Innovation at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, take a closer look at sovereign AI and its alignment with Canada’s priorities, Canada’s competitive advantage in sustainable digital infrastructure and broad business AI adoption to boost Canada’s lagging productivity.
Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia: What exactly does “sovereign AI” entail?
Katie Preiss: Sovereign AI is a broad term that refers to the control of AI systems affected by jurisdictional limitations. Its main goal is to help keep sensitive data from leaving a jurisdiction or being accessed without proper credentials. Canada’s AI leadership depends on our ability to ensure that the infrastructure powering AI — compute, storage, and models — operates in ways that reflect Canadian values, legal frameworks and innovation goals.
Sovereign AI shouldn’t be the goal in every case, but for sensitive use cases in sectors like healthcare, defence, finance, education and critical infrastructure, Canada must be able to collect, store and process data within trusted environments that meet domestic legal and policy standards. This is not about isolating ourselves from the global ecosystem; it’s about ensuring we can deploy secure, transparent and reliable AI under Canadian jurisdiction. Investing in Canadian-aligned AI infrastructure helps ensure public funds deliver trusted services, inclusive innovation and long-term economic growth.
Bahr-Gedalia: Your comments highlight that the need for sovereign AI is not unique to Canada.
Preiss: Exactly. Trusted AI infrastructure is a strategic imperative for every country. What makes Canada distinct isn’t the desire for sovereignty, but our opportunity to lead by example. We can show the world what secure, sustainable, values-driven and innovation-friendly digital infrastructure looks like. TELUS isn’t just building AI, we’re building trust. And in today’s AI world, trust is infrastructure.
Bahr-Gedalia: Green compute and AI infrastructure have been the focus of many conversations. How exactly do we get there?
Preiss: Canada has a unique edge in sustainable AI. Our low-carbon grid and cold climate position us to deliver clean domestic AI infrastructure at scale. The TELUS Sovereign AI Factory, is one of the world’s most sustainable AI deployments, powered by 99% renewable energy and using over 75% less water than traditional data centres.
This environmental leadership is both good for the planet and a competitive advantage. As global demand for responsible AI infrastructure grows, Canada is well-positioned to lead with an approach that combines climate resilience, data integrity and high-performance compute. But we must act boldly and quickly to maintain that edge.
Bahr-Gedalia: Given AI’s potential to help close the productivity gap, the slow rate of AI adoption by businesses remains an ongoing concern. What’s the solution?
Preiss: AI is Canada’s moonshot for transformative productivity growth. OECD research shows AI-enabled firms grow faster, innovate more, and boost productivity. Recent OECD comparisons place Canada among the G7 leaders in AI adoption, an encouraging sign of potential. Yet much of this uptake is broad but shallow, with few deeply embedded, enterprise-scale deployments. We still lag in productivity and in capturing AI’s full value, but that gap is our opportunity! With bold, coordinated policy, we can turn early momentum into lasting economic strength. TELUS is investing to make that happen.Now we need a national strategy to ensure every sector benefits.
Bahr-Gedalia: What kind of policy actions are needed?
Preiss: Smart, targeted policy is essential for AI uptake. The federal government’s proposed 20% tax credit for SMEs is a great start. But more is needed. We should expand incentives in strategic sectors, launch public-private pilots, and invest in workforce training to help businesses deploy AI.
Telecom, for example, is being transformed by generative AI.TELUS is leading with Fuel iX, which recently earned the prestigious Mercure award for AI-driven productivity enhancement. Our role is unique: helping Canadian companies adopt AI securely, sustainability, and effectively.
To learn more about the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s initiatives on AI, please visit: The Future of Artificial Intelligence Council – Canadian Chamber of Commerce
