VIDEO: Is Canada Falling Behind? Watch As I Question The Minister of AI and Digital Innovation.

January 16, 2026

The Minister of AI and Digital Innovation side stepped my question at the Science and Research committee last week about guardrails to ensure Canada retains ownership of IP and data created through publicly funded innovation – it’s hard to blame him.

Here are the facts from our findings in committee: on average, 12% of patents in Canada come from Canadians, over 87% of our innovation is foreign owned, and 80% of Canada’s digital data is owned and hosted on U.S.-controlled servers – this includes health data and financial data.

Canada lacks a sovereign strategy to retain ownership of the IP and data generated through publicly funded innovation. Without a clear plan, we will continue losing control of our ideas, our data, and the economic benefits that should stay in Canada.