Canada’s AI strategy and universities: Beyond literacy, students need to be fluent with AI
Canada’s AI strategy and universities: Beyond literacy, students need to be fluent with AI
Publish Date: 2026-06-11 14:27:00
Source Domain: theconversation.com
The Canadian government’s new artificial intelligence strategy positions AI as a major driver of job creation, economic growth and national competitiveness. It has also drawn some criticism for not providing enough detail on safety and governance.
A central element of the strategy is its focus on AI literacy. This includes a national initiative to provide free AI training for Canadians, ensuring all post-secondary students have access to trusted AI agents and a commitment to reach one million entry-level post-secondary students.
Over the past three years, many higher education institutions have been developing AI literacy educational opportunities to respond to the rapid pace of AI advancement and its implications for teaching, learning, research and operations.
In addition to holding AI literacy workshops, seminars and talks, and being concerned with institutional guidelines and ethical frameworks, universities need to plan for the systematic integration of AI literacy as part of their program learning outcomes.
Read more:
AI in universities: How large language models are transforming research
From AI literacy to fluency
AI literacy is a set of competencies that enables people to critically evaluate AI technologies, engage in ethical reflection pertaining to AI use, communicate and collaborate effectively with AI and use it as a tool.
What some researchers have called AI fluency should be understood as extending the scope and definition of AI literacy. Where AI literacy gives individuals the foundation to understand and work with AI systems, AI fluency lets them innovate, adapt and create with those tools.
Fluency implies confident, creative and context-sensitive engagement with AI, including the ability to integrate AI into complex work, learning, research and decision-making. This includes judgment and the ability to engage dynamically with Al as part of one’s reasoning as well as being proficient in…
