Ottawa tabs $10.2M for AI development, use in Manitoba

Ottawa tabs $10.2M for AI development, use in Manitoba

Drones will replace books in Manitoba’s newest government-funded library.

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Ottawa has slated $1.14 million for the Manitoba Construction Sector Council, who will oversee the project.

The council is among six organizations Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon announced funding for on Tuesday in Winnipeg. In total, the feds promised $10.2 million for AI development and use in Manitoba.

Federal Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon speaks at a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce event Tuesday in Winnipeg.

“It’s very important to Manitoba’s economy that we start embracing this technology,” said Carol Paul, executive director of the Manitoba Construction Sector Council.

Local construction firms have become less competitive by falling behind technologically, she said. She estimates four per cent of Manitoba construction companies use drones, and that the industry is decades behind the United States.

General contractors working in the keystone province look elsewhere — perhaps to Ontario or British Columbia — for businesses who use drone-created 3D scans of land and buildings.

Physical blueprints are the preferred method for many Manitoba small- and medium-sized businesses, Paul said.

“I’m finding a lot of times, (companies are) saying ‘Yeah, we need to buy a drone, but how do you know what drone is best suited to your needs?’” she said.

“They don’t have to make that large initial purchase. They can try it out, see if it works.”

The sector council is polling 40 firms to determine which drones to buy. It’ll use $500,000 to stock the library. Purchases should happen this fall, with a library launch date of Oct. 1, Paul said.

The latter money from the feds will fund drone training courses the sector council runs.

It’s researching the potential for drone creation and maintenance in Manitoba alongside Supply Chain Manitoba. Results should come at the end of March 2027, Paul said.

Solomon preached the importance of building artificial intelligence infrastructure and keeping intellectual property in Canada.

He addressed roughly 200 business executives during a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce event Tuesday. His keynote, at the Inn at The Forks, came weeks after the federal government unveiled its national AI strategy.

“We either build the infrastructure here or we rent it from someone else,” Solomon said. “We either make the rules here, or we follow someone else’s.”

Ottawa’s strategy includes $500 million for regional economic development offices. Prairies Economic Development Canada oversees Manitoba; it chose the six groups highlighted in Tuesday’s funding announcement.

Solomon didn’t say how much money Prairies Economic Development Canada would ultimately receive through the strategy.

Tuesday’s injection of cash should create 170 jobs and impact 35 small- and medium-sized businesses, he said.

Mode40, a data intelligence firm, plans to hire around 40 people as it expands in the United States and Germany.

The $800,000 it received will also fuel a defence-focused pilot project it’s conducting in the Prairies; it’s testing parts traceability. The study began in April and runs for two years, said Cameron Bergen, Mode40’s chief executive.

Noah Palansky expects Taiv, the company he co-founded, to hire 85 employees within a year as it adds 18 American cities to its client roster. Taiv products replace live TV commercials with relevant advertisements in bars and other venues.

It’s getting $5 million from the feds as it plans to expand in Canada and the United States. Its platform is already used in 32 U.S. cities.

“I think most aspects of most people’s lives are going to change over the next five years as a result of AI,” Palansky said. “It can be a tool that makes everybody’s life easier.

“The natural question is who are going to be the leaders, and how do we … position Canada to be the leader?”

Employees from 600 Manitoba businesses have taken AI training through the provincially-funded Manitoba AI Pathways program since its spring 2025 launch. The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and Winnipeg chamber are facilitating.

They’re encouraging firms to create AI-integrated products, said Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg chamber.

“We’re seeing that a lot in the United States and Europe,” Remillard said, noting Canada is behind other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries in artificial intelligence use.

Trust around AI still needs building in the private sector, Remillard said. Both he and Solomon emphasized Canada hasn’t seen major job loss due to AI thus far.

A May 2026 Bank of Canada report says widespread adoption of AI hasn’t led to net job losses.

Last month, Premier Wab Kinew said his government had stopped the creation of a large AI data centre north of Ile des Chênes.

Solomon declined to speak about the case but said he talks with Manitoba Innovation Minister Mike Moroz. The two governments will build infrastructure “the right way to make sure Manitobans get the best benefit,” Solomon said.

Ottawa is spending $2.3 million on ExpensePoint, a company with an expense-management platform; $500,000 on Aryval, which has event and enrolment management platforms used in schools; and $471,352 on Construction Clock, a time-tracking app creator.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.

Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.