Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. While Canada strengthens its capabilities at home, the government is also deepening partnerships with high-growth economies abroad to drive investment, scale innovation and create jobs.
Today, the Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, concluded a successful trip to India, where he attended the India AI Impact Summit 2026. While in New Delhi, he held targeted meetings with senior Indian government officials and executives from major Indian and multinational technology companies to expand commercial collaboration in the areas of AI, digital infrastructure and advanced technologies.
The Minister met with Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology, and with Andrew Charlton, Australia's Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy. They reiterated their commitment to continuing trilateral collaboration on AI. This meeting follows the announcement of the Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) Partnership at the G20 in November 2025.
During the Summit, Minister Solomon held bilateral meetings with global political leaders and senior technology executives to advance cooperation on AI-driven economic growth, trusted deployment and cross-border investment. He also participated in working sessions focused on AI safety, inclusion and responsible governance, contributing to international discussions on how to ensure emerging technologies are developed and deployed in ways that earn public trust.
The Minister, alongside Canadian High Commissioner Chris Cooter, also welcomed more than 150 leaders from India and Canada to a reception at the Canadian High Commission, bringing together business leaders, investors and policymakers to catalyze new business partnerships and deepen investment ties between the two countries' innovation ecosystems. In the Minister's opening remarks, he reiterated Canada's intention to collaborate with LawZero, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing safe-by-design AI systems that was founded by Turing Award-winning AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio, who was present for the announcement.
The visit also included the Minister witnessing the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding between the University of Waterloo and Tata Consultancy Services, as well as with upGrad. These signings reflect the broad trend toward deepening academic and commercial ties between the two countries, with 8 Canadian universities advancing 11 MOUs with Indian partners in the last few months. Together, these agreements are accelerating skills development, commercialization pathways and business expansion between Canada and India.
On the final day of the Summit, the Minister addressed the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Council Meeting, further highlighting Canada's commitment to international collaboration on the responsible development and use of AI and reinforcing Canada's role as a partner of choice in shaping the economic architecture of the AI era.
Canada's competitive advantage in AI is clear-world-class talent, cutting-edge research and a dynamic innovation ecosystem. This visit to India advanced concrete commercial relationships, strengthened strategic alliances and opened new pathways for investment, technology collaboration and shared economic growth between our two countries.
