On September 26, 2025 at the Empire Club of Canada in Toronto, Minister Evan Solomon outlined an ambitious plan to secure Canada’s digital sovereignty and accelerate responsible AI adoption. He framed this era as a national inflection point on par with the railroad boom. For marketers and the ad tech community, this signals that privacy modernization, sovereign infrastructure, and trust-first adoption will shape how our industry grows.
A nation‑building agenda for AI, data, and compute
The Minister sketched a policy roadmap that connects talent, infrastructure, and market demand:
- Modernize privacy and data laws with specific protections for consumers and children.
- Capital, customers, compute – Unlock domestic capital, use public procurement to create first customers for Canadian solutions, and build sovereign cloud and data centres.
- Talent retention – Keep Canadian researchers and IP at home while attracting global talent.
- AI Task Force – 26 members running a 30‑day sprint to inform a refreshed National AI Strategy by year‑end.
- Quantum push – a major program expected next month.
Adoption at the speed of trust
In a fireside conversation with Toronto Star Editor‑in‑Chief Nicole MacIntyre, the Minister emphasized that adoption “will only move at the speed of trust.” Canada must close an 8 to 10% AI adoption gap with OECD peers, and partnerships like RBC-Cohere and initiatives at Bell show how procurement can help scale local solutions. Crucially, policy will iterate like software, aiming for transparency and responsiveness as technologies evolve.
What this means for Canada’s digital advertising economy
As the national agenda advances, our sector will feel the impacts across compliance, platforms, and growth:
Privacy reform is coming
New obligations around consent management, child protections, and transparency are on the horizon. IAB Canada’s frameworks, such as TCF Canada, are well positioned to help members operationalize compliance while maintaining user experience and performance.
Digital sovereignty will reshape infrastructure choices
Expect greater emphasis on sovereign compute and data localization, with implications for where and how platforms store and process personal data. Ad tech and martech providers operating in Canada should evaluate cloud strategies and data flows now, anticipating tighter localization and residency expectations.
Trust remains the industry’s license to operate
If adoption moves at the speed of trust, then responsible advertising practices-clear value exchanges, meaningful controls, and strong security-become growth drivers, not just risk mitigations. Building consumer confidence in how data powers digital advertising is fundamental to long‑term competitiveness. Excessive consent layers will negatively impact user experiences and also create an unfair representation of risks associated with data-driven advertising.
Growth opportunities are real and near‑term
Government procurement and domestic capital can catalyze homegrown scale‑ups. This is an opportunity for Canadian ad tech and martech firms to win first‑of‑kind deployments, demonstrate outcomes, and expand globally from a strong domestic base.
Global alignment matters
Canada must continue to balance its quest for sovereignty while maintaining a non-isolating view of partnerships and cross-border opportunities. The industry depends on practical, interoperable standards that protect consumers and support a vibrant digital economy.
Our commitment and next steps
IAB Canada will convene members to discuss the anticipated privacy bill in the coming days. While AIDA (the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act) is not expected to be part of this bill, there will likely be cross‑overs with privacy requirements that our community must prepare for together. We will continue to translate policy developments into clear, actionable guidance and keep members informed as the national AI strategy and privacy reforms take shape.
If you would like to join the discussions on policies that affect our industry, please reach out to us at [email protected].