Experts warn Canada risks losing top researchers in ‘global war for AI talent’

Jonah Midanik, managing partner at Forum Ventures, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the company's investment in Canada and their bet on Toronto's AI scene.

OTTAWA — Canada must act to retain its international leadership in AI research in the face of a worldwide race for talent that’s reached a “fever pitch,” the country’s national AI institutes warned the government last summer.

They cautioned that funding for a key program was running out and told the federal government it needs to replenish it to keep top AI talent in the country.

“An unprecedented global war for AI talent is underway, which demands an immediate and robust response from the federal government to secure existing AI talent and expand our base of AI expertise,” they wrote.

The Canadian Institute For Advanced Research, also known as CIFAR, and Canada’s three national AI institutes made the request in a July letter and an accompanying background document, obtained by The Canadian Press through an access-to-information request.

The Liberal government has boasted about Canada’s leadership in AI research, which includes two so-called godfathers of AI. That national strength in basic research is a common talking point for Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon.

“Competition for top-tier AI researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs has reached fever pitch, driven by both private-sector giants and aggressive nation-state strategies,” the organizations said.

CIFAR and the three national AI institutes — Mila, Vector and Amii — told the government funding for a national AI research chair program is set to expire, depriving Canada of a means to recruit talent after March 31, 2026.

There are 126 CIFAR AI research chairs at 17 universities across six provinces, they said. “The calibre of these researchers include the global leaders, such as Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton, and ACM Turing Award winners Yoshua Bengio and Richard Sutton,” the groups wrote.

“Per researcher, the Canada CIFAR AI Chairs are the third highest impact AI research group in the world.”

They said the Canadian research chairs are behind only Google and the Max Planck institutes, and are ahead of Meta, MIT, Oxford, Stanford and Tsinghua, along with many others.

The calibre of these researchers means they are the target of “recruiting efforts by foreign institutions and companies with financially generous offers,” the groups said. They noted that in previous years, research chairs have left for Elon Musk’s xAI, ETH Zurich, and MIT.

They said the program, “a historical strength in attracting and nurturing AI talent, is now under immense pressure.”

“Without a strategic and sustained response,” they added, “Canada’s ability to retain these leading minds, and by extension, their innovations and the corresponding economic benefits they support, will be compromised.”

The document warned academic hiring cycles mean researchers start looking for positions nine to 12 months in advance, which means decisions about jobs in 2026-2027 are being made now.

“Top AI talent in Canada therefore needs an immediate strong signal from the government that allows them to plan their future careers here and give them pause in considering aggressive international offers,” they said.

The groups asked for a $186-million top-up over 10 years, part of a $434 million fund that would also go toward supporting early-stage AI ventures and commercialization, according to a briefing note prepared for Solomon.

The groups argued that Canada’s commercialization gap is also part of the problem.

“The federal government invests millions in researchers, but doesn’t sufficiently facilitate early stage deep tech venture creation when they choose to leave the lab and enter the startup ecosystems,” the groups said.

“This gap between groundbreaking research and commercial ventures means that Canadian-developed intellectual property, and the talent behind it, frequently leave the country.”

Elissa Strome, executive director of the pan-Canadian AI strategy at CIFAR, said in an email the group is waiting for the government to release its new AI strategy before providing comment. Amii, Mila and Vector did not respond.

The letter was sent to the government ahead of this fall’s federal budget, which did not include the funding. Both previous iterations of the national AI strategy did include funding for the organizations.

Solomon’s director of communications also pointed to the updated national strategy in his response.

“Decisions related to the renewal or extension of specific programs, including the CIFAR AI Chairs program, are being considered as part of the broader work underway on the updated national AI strategy. As that work continues, no decisions have been announced at this time,” Peter Wall said.

No date has been set for the release of that strategy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2026.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press