Provincial AI strategy could protect residents, scale Sask. workforce: advocates
Provincial AI strategy could protect residents, scale Sask. workforce: advocates
https://globalnews.ca/news/11914167/provincial-ai-strategy-residents-sask-workforce-advocates/
Publish Date: 2026-06-19 20:02:00
Source Domain: globalnews.ca
As Canada works to implement a national strategy around artificial intelligence, announced earlier this month, advocates in Saskatchewan say a provincial version could help, too.
The federal government unveiled Canada’s new AI strategy on June 4, centred around scaling and securing the sector, with six “pillars” of focus.
Alex Fallon, founder of Artificial Intelligence Saskatchewan (AiSK), is welcoming the federal strategy, saying it provides clarity and certainty to the industry and academics.
“And now the province can kind of look at that and ask, ‘How do we align to it? How does industry benefit from that strategy?” Fallon said in an interview.
While provinces such as Ontario and Alberta have frameworks around their approaches to AI, Saskatchewan does not — something advocates say could help protect jobs and scale the workforce.
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“Government supporting the tech sector is absolutely key to keeping our talent here and helping to attract talent and then really supporting startups and medium-sized companies to grow,” said Fallon.
In a statement to Global News, Innovation Saskatchewan’s CEO says the province supports AI adoption and is helping businesses do so safely.
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“Saskatchewan is taking a responsible and coordinated approach to AI adoption, supporting practical use across government and our economy,” said Kari Harvey.
“Through collaboration with ecosystem partners, we are supporting AI literacy and helping deliver practical learning opportunities so Saskatchewan businesses can adopt AI safely and in ways that match their size, capacity and business needs.”
Support for companies using AI is a sentiment shared by Phillip Harder, VP of Data Science at Croptimistic, a Saskatoon-based…
