Canadian Minister of Artificial Intelligence, Evan Solomon / Wikimedia commons

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. While Canada strengthens its capabilities at home, the government is also deepening partnerships with high-growth economies abroad to drive investment, scale innovation, and create jobs.

These are some of the highlights of the visit of the Canadian Minister of Artificial Intelligence, Evan Solomon, who not only attended the India AI Impact Summit but also witnessed two MOUs being signed between Canadian and Indian institutions.

“India is one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, and this visit was about turning shared ambition into real opportunity. Canada is building practical partnerships that connect our AI talent, research strength, and innovation ecosystem with India’s scale, market dynamism, and entrepreneurial energy. We are focused on helping our businesses expand into each other’s markets and strengthening two-way investment between our countries." By deepening collaboration between our companies, startups, and institutions, we are creating new pathways for growth and high-quality jobs in both Canada and India, while ensuring AI is developed and deployed in ways people can trust,” commented Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, at the conclusion of his three-day visit to India.

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Interestingly, India had extended an invitation to the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, to attend the India AI Impact Summit. He is expected to visit India in the coming weeks.

During his three-day stay in India, the Canadian minister witnessed the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding between the University of Waterloo and Tata Consultancy Services, as well as with upGrad. These signings reflect the broad trend toward deepening academic and commercial ties between the two countries, with 8 Canadian universities advancing 11 MOUs with Indian partners in the last few months. Together, these agreements are accelerating skills development, commercialisation pathways, and business expansion between Canada and India.

Evan Solomon also attended the India AI Impact Summit 2026. While in New Delhi, he held targeted meetings with senior Indian government officials and executives from major Indian and multinational technology companies to expand commercial collaboration in the areas of AI, digitalinfrastructure,e and advanced technologies.

The Canadian minister met Ashwini Vaishnav, India’s minister for railways, information and broadcasting, and electronics and information technology, and Andrew Charlton, Australia’s assistant minister for science, technology, and the digital economy. They reiterated their commitment to continuing trilateral collaboration on AI. This meeting follows the announcement of the Australia–Canada–India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) Partnership at the G20 in November 2025.

During the Summit, Evan Solomon held bilateral meetings with global political leaders and senior technology executives to advance cooperation on AI-driven economic growth, trusted deployment, and cross-border investment. He also participated in working sessions focused on AI safety, inclusion, and responsible governance, contributing to international discussions on how to ensure emerging technologies are developed and deployed in ways that earn public trust.

Evan Solomon, alongside Canadian High Commissioner Chris Cooter, also welcomed more than 150 leaders from India and Canada to a reception at the Canadian High Commission, bringing together business leaders, investors, and policymakers to catalyse new business partnerships and deepen investment ties between the two countries’ innovation ecosystems. In the minister's opening remarks, he reiterated Canada’s intention to collaborate with LawZero, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing safe-by-design AI systems that was founded by Turing Award–winning AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio, who was present for the announcement.

On the final day of the Summit, the Minister addressed the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Council Meeting, further highlighting Canada’s commitment to international collaboration on the responsible development and use of AI and reinforcing Canada’s role as a partner of choice in shaping the economic architecture of the AI era.

Canada’s competitive advantage in AI is clear—world-class talent, cutting-edge research, and a dynamic innovation ecosystem. This visit to India advanced concrete commercial relationships, strengthened strategic alliances, and opened new pathways for investment, technology collaboration, and shared economic growth between our two countries.

Discover more at New India Abroad.