It was a good week to be Canada’s AI darling.
One day after the company announced another $100 million USD in funding to bring its valuation to $7 billion (story below), Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez got to sit on the ALL IN stage surrounded by Canada’s federal AI minister, the country’s largest company by market cap, and its second-largest telecom (all three parties are customers, by the way) for a conversation that focused in part on ‘how to build 10 more Coheres.’
This type of hometown boosterism is nothing new for Canada’s tallest poppies (hat tip to past ‘10 more’ inductees Shopify and BlackBerry), but what followed was much more pointed.
Closing the conference in a keynote address, Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly emphatically delivered a clear statement of intent: “We will build Cohere and we will make it a Canadian champion.”
Why? “We need economic growth,” Joly said. “And AI is all about economic growth.”
It’s one thing to be the belle of the ball. It’s another to be the linchpin of a country’s economic strategy. Particularly when governments are generally bad at picking winners. Maybe building champions will be different.
Even if the economic gains have yet to materialize, it’s clear this government is all in on AI. Minister Evan Solomon also announced his new task force responsible for refreshing Canada’s national AI strategy this week (story also below). The marching orders were clear.
“[AI] is the second great technological revolution in the last quarter-century,” Solomon said. “It is incumbent on everyone in this room, all of us, and our government, to make it ours.”
Solomon pointed to the federal budget in November multiple times throughout the week as a mechanism for future AI policy changes (including venture capital support). Until then, expect more strong talk.
Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief
Your Tax Credit Strategy Needs a 2026 Game Plan
Big shifts are coming to Quebec’s CDAE (e-business) tax credit, and for tech companies, the stakes are high.
What’s at risk? Thousands in potential credits, tighter qualification rules, and missed chances to reinvest in your growth.
If you’re hiring developers, building digital tools, or scaling a product-led team, you might still qualify. But with the 2026 rule changes approaching fast, now’s the time to find out.
Why book your free CDAE assessment?
- See if you still qualify under the 2026 changes
- Get expert insight into what your team structure means for your claim
- Discover how much you could recoup to reinvest in growth
Book your free assessment today!
Canada hopes to build a sovereign cloud to counter US dominance. It won’t be easy
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced this month that he plans to build a sovereign cloud through the Major Projects Office amid larger governmental efforts to fund “sovereign AI,” where Canadian companies run data-hosting services rather than rely on American players (which Telus got a head start on this week).
Storing data in Canadian data centres doesn’t necessarily guarantee data sovereignty, but the need for Canadian-controlled infrastructure has yet to be met with a plan to execute. What could that look like?
Canadian tech looks to poach H-1B visa castaways as its own “ambitious founders” flee
A sudden change to the United States’ immigration policy by the Trump administration has the Canadian technology sector eager to lure more skilled foreign workers north of the border. But a renewed talent pipeline won’t solve slowing tech salary growth, declining entrepreneurship, and fleeing tech founders.
Minister Evan Solomon reveals Canada’s AI Task Force
Canada’s AI minister, Evan Solomon, unveiled a 26-member AI Strategy Task Force—filled with leading researchers, executives and entrepreneurs—to help shape a new, national AI plan.
The announcement comes days after Solomon said that the government will update its AI strategy a year ahead of schedule.
BDC pledges $50 million to help women entrepreneurs buy businesses from aging owners
As a wave of aging Canadian entrepreneurs retire, the BDC has launched a new, $50-million fund aimed at providing women entrepreneurs with the capital and support they need to buy and grow those outgoing leaders’ companies.
BDC also promoted Mona Minhas to managing partner of its women-focused Thrive Venture Fund this week. Minhas takes over for long-time leader Michelle Scarborough, who left the organization earlier this year.
TikTok collected personal info from “a large number” of Canadian children
A new report from Canadian privacy watchdogs says TikTok had “inadequate measures” to keep children off its platform, resulting in the collection of personal and potentially sensitive information. While investigators say TikTok “generally disagreed” with the findings, the company committed to updating its practices.
NordSpace’s second rocket launch attempt flames out after multiple launchpad fires
NordSpace decided to forgo its second window for Canada’s first commercial rocket launch this week after multiple attempts were halted by minor fires on the launchpad.
NordSpace said propellant issues led to a “fuel-rich scenario” where its engine was burning more fuel than the air it was taking in. A new launch date is expected sometime in the “coming weeks.”
Toronto Tech Week returns in 2026
Mark your calendars, because Toronto Tech Week will return in 2026.
After a successful debut this past June, next year’s festivities will take place earlier, from May 25 to May 29, and feature the return of Toronto Tech Week’s flagship Homecoming event.
Meet the Toast Top 25 Women in Tech
In partnership with BetaKit, the Toast Top 25 Women in Tech initiative spotlights women working in tech or tech-adjacent businesses whose impacts on the Canadian innovation economy often go unnoticed.
Honourees were named at the Toast Summit in Calgary this week. Antler partner Shambhavi Mishra, MedEssist CEO Joelle Almeida, Certn CTO Saba El-Hilo, and others were recognized for their contributions to Canada’s tech ecosystem.
FEATURED STORIES FROM OUR PARTNERS
- Since 2016, SAAS NORTH has given founders a stage to wrestle with the toughest questions facing the industry. The conference turns 10 this year, and the spotlight turns to the subject dominating every boardroom: AI. Get an early sneak peek of SAAS NORTH 2025.
- Jacqueline Loganathan runs multiple businesses and knows the struggle of endless browser tabs, context switching, and missed follow-ups. She just tested QuickBooks on the Intuit platform to see if it could simplify the chaos. Read her first-hand look at how the platform supports entrepreneurs.
🇨🇦 Weekly Canadian Deals, Dollars & More
- VAN – Variational strikes $349M USD deal with pharma giant Merck
- CGY – Attabotics sells remaining assets to Lafayette Systems
- KW – FluidAI lands FDA clearance to sell post-surgery monitor in US
- TOR – Cohere’s valuation hits $7B USD with new $100M
- TOR – Simple Ventures’ funding hits $15M
- TOR – Mycroft secures $3.5M USD to build “Goldilocks” security tool
- TOR – Loblaw doubles down on Gatik driverless trucks partnership
- TOR – Venture for Canada taps Steven Wang for CEO
- MTL – Google Android head Sameer Samat joins Lightspeed’s board
- MTL – Telegraph Ventures secures $35M to back AI startups
- MTL – Nesto launches expanded product for big banks
- MTL – SRTX confirms permanent cuts for 92 employees
The BetaKit Podcast — Tailscale’s CEO has an idea “worth billions” for AI startups
“That’s the literal term several CISOs have used with me unprompted: ‘ticking time bomb.’ There’s no world in which this doesn’t explode the way it’s done right now.”
Tailscale CEO Avery Pennarun thinks the AI revolution has put a gun to the head of CISOs: embrace unsafe data practices or get fired. They’ve told him the cybersecurity risks are a “ticking time bomb.” Pennarun joins The BetaKit Podcast to explain how his company has evolved from a programmable mesh network to air traffic control for AI agents, and why he needs other startups to build new tools to make sure the planes land safely. Recorded live at ALL IN 2025.
Take The BetaKit Quiz – Meta’s super PAC, Trump’s talent tariff, MDA Space goes rinkside
Think you’re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for September 26, 2025.
Feature image courtesy ALL IN.