Montréal, Quebec
Today, the Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, hosted the first meeting of the Canada-European Union (EU) Digital Partnership Council with Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission's Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, while participating in the G7 Industry, Digital and Technology Ministers' Meeting in Montréal.
Following the council's meeting, Minister Solomon and Executive Vice-President Virkkunen signed two memoranda of understanding on behalf of the Government of Canada and the European Union. The memorandum of understanding on artificial intelligence (AI) reaffirms Canada and the EU's commitment to accelerate the adoption of AI and foster its responsible development and use. It also announces the intent of both parties to collaborate more closely on AI frameworks, standards, skills development, scientific collaboration and adoption in strategic economic sectors. This means that Canada and the EU have agreed to increase scientific cooperation on fundamental research; advance implementation of the G7 AI Adoption Roadmap; deepen their information sharing on AI standards, regulations and talent development; and continue to encourage the adoption of AI systems in strategic economic sectors.
The other memorandum of understanding outlines their intent to take collaborative actions on digital credentials and trust services. Canada and the EU plan to work together by facilitating knowledge sharing, testing technologies and aligning standards to support secure, interoperable systems and future mutual recognition.
The Digital Partnership Council is a key deliverable of the new EU-Canada Strategic Partnership of the Future announced during the Canada-EU Leaders' Summit, held on June 23 in Brussels. The council's joint statement reaffirms the importance of the Canada-EU Digital Partnership, as it underlines the parties' common interest in boosting competitiveness, innovation and economic resilience and their commitment to further collaborate in enabling innovation and research in digital technologies, promoting trust-based digital economies and advancing digital sovereignty, with a focus on AI.
