Conscience is pleased to see that Canada’s new National AI Strategy reflects something we have been arguing for a while now.
Pillar 6 of the strategy commits Canada to leading a global, multi-stakeholder effort to invest in and sustain open-source AI development in the public interest, naming researchers, civil society, and global open-source organizations as partners. We made this case in our submission to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s 30-Day National Sprint consultation earlier this year, and we’re genuinely pleased to see that the Government listened.
Our argument was straightforward: open science isn’t just an ethical preference, it’s a competitive strategy. The datasets essential for training and validating AI models can only be built through open collaboration. Closed, IP-intensive approaches risk limiting Canada’s own success, while open science ensures freedom-to-operate for Canadian firms and keeps AI development under Canadian control. The strategy’s recognition that market consolidation around proprietary systems creates real risks for sovereignty and resilience is very much in line with what we submitted. As the Strategy puts it, countries that depend on closed platforms face “structural dependency, vendor lock-in, diminished transparency, and a limited ability to adapt critical technologies to local needs, cultures, and values.”
Open-source AI, the strategy argues, “can also support external evaluation and accountability, accelerate research and innovation, and encourage greater competition in the marketplace” — language that maps closely onto the open science principles Conscience has championed from the start.
We also flagged something the Strategy acknowledges: open-source AI lowers barriers for not-for-profit organizations and SMEs, which are exactly the organizations driving innovation in fields like drug discovery, where Conscience works every day through our programs.
Seeing these ideas reflected in a national strategy is an encouraging sign that Canada is serious about building an AI ecosystem that works for everyone, not just the largest players. We congratulate the government on this commitment and look forward to continuing to work together to ensure it translates into real investment in the open science infrastructure Canada needs.
