Happy Canada Day! On this special day, we have another special episode of The BetaKit Podcast just for you: an hour-long sit-down with Canada’s AI Minister, the Honourable Evan Solomon.
“Either we build the innovation here with our entrepreneurs, or we buy it from someone else. And either we make the rules here, or we follow someone else’s. Those are the choices we’ve got as a country.”
We had just hosted Minister Solomon at our BetaKit Most Ambitious: Town Hall in May, celebrating the launch of our 2026 issue highlighting Canadian tech companies strengthening our security, autonomy, and prosperity.
You’d be correct in assuming we spoke to the minister about digital sovereignty—but that event was before the release of Canada’s new AI strategy, the Anthropic model ban, and several new bills reshaping federal policy on social media, privacy, and tech more broadly.
Almost all of that is under Minister Solomon’s purview in some way. Which is why I think, barring the prime minister, he has the toughest file in cabinet: he’s responsible not only for managing Canada’s approach to a novel technology, but also its wide-ranging impacts across all of society.
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That means I had tons of questions for the minister—not all of which I was able to get to. The minister is not known for his brevity, but in fairness to him, these are complex subjects changing day by day—and at the very least, he’s committed to having the conversation. I think you’ll be surprised where and when the minister gets candid on Canada’s approach to regulating tech and its goals for AI adoption.
So, what does Minister Solomon have to say about Canada’s AI strategy, its digital sovereignty, and approach to regulating privacy and social media?
Let’s dig in.
PRESENTED BY
The BetaKit Podcast is presented by BetaKit Most Ambitious.
Amid global uncertainty, the path forward is clear: Canada’s moment to build is now.
Presented by Uber Canada, DMZ, and National Bank of Canada, BetaKit Most Ambitious is back, telling stories of nearly 100 Canadian innovators strengthening our nation’s autonomy, security, and prosperity.
Read BetaKit Most Ambitious now.
Recorded and edited by Toronto Podcasts.