Friedrich Merz and Mick Carney in Berlin, 26.08.2025
Canada is going on the offensive with artificial intelligence. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has presented a new national AI strategy under the title «AI for All». The goal is ambitious: by 2031, AI adoption is expected to create up to 250,000 new jobs. At the same time, Canada’s economic output is expected to rise by 3 percent, equivalent to almost 200 billion Canadian dollars in additional growth.
The plan is more than a technology concept. Canada is explicitly presenting AI as an economic program for the future: more productivity, more domestic companies, more skills, more digital sovereignty. That is the political message. AI is not merely to be managed, limited or monitored. It is meant to generate growth.
Canada wants to turn AI into concrete jobs
At the center of the strategy is the link between technology and the labor market. Canada does not only want to promote AI research, but massively increase its use in companies. According to government figures, just over 12 percent of Canadian companies currently use AI. By 2034, that share is expected to rise to 60 percent.
To achieve this, Ottawa is planning training programs, further education and up to 90,000 AI-related jobs and internship opportunities for young Canadians. Small and medium-sized businesses in particular are to receive support, so that AI does not remain confined to large corporations but reaches the broader economy.
That is crucial. The productivity effect of AI does not come from cutting-edge research or a few showcase companies alone. It only emerges when the technology is translated into business processes, administration, industry, healthcare, services and small and medium-sized businesses.
Sovereign AI becomes a location promise
Canada explicitly speaks of sovereign AI. Behind this lies the concern of becoming too dependent on foreign platforms, computing infrastructure and data ecosystems. Carney warned that foreign AI platforms could be used against Canadian interests, for example through access to data, market influence or dependence on foreign infrastructure.
That is why Canada wants to build its own capacities. Plans include a Canadian Tech Growth Fund worth 500 million Canadian dollars, additional funding for computing infrastructure, support for domestic AI companies, data protection reforms and a strengthening of the Canadian AI Safety Institute.
Ottawa is therefore linking 3 levels: economic competitiveness, national sovereignty and trust in the technology. This connection is becoming increasingly important internationally.
Germany has many debates — but too little force
For Germany, the Canadian initiative is uncomfortable. AI is already being used widely in the German economy as well. According to a recent ifo survey, more than half of German companies now use AI in their business processes. That is progress. But it does not yet amount to a strong location strategy.
In Germany, AI is often discussed from the perspective of data protection, regulation, risks and responsibilities. These questions are important. But they must not become the endpoint. If a country only asks what could make AI dangerous, but too rarely asks where AI can create productivity, new business models and jobs, an imbalance emerges.
Canada tells the story differently: AI should not be understood primarily as a threat, but as an economic lever. That is precisely the kind of offensive Germany often lacks.
Small and medium-sized businesses need more than appeals
Germany’s real challenge lies in its Mittelstand. Many companies already use AI selectively: for texts, translations, research, customer communication, programming or data analysis. But the leap from individual tools to genuine process transformation is large.
For AI to generate growth, companies need training, data quality, investment capacity, legally reliable frameworks, computing power and concrete support instruments. Small and medium-sized businesses cannot simply build an AI strategy on the side while also dealing with bureaucracy, labor shortages, energy costs and weak demand.
That is exactly where Germany would have to start. Not with yet another abstract debate, but with a productivity offensive for companies: Where can AI reduce administrative costs? Where can it ease labor shortages? Where can it accelerate production, sales, care, logistics or research?
AI can change jobs — and still create new ones
Of course, Canada’s narrative is not without risk. AI will also replace tasks, automate work and change existing job profiles. Critics point out that Canada’s strategy promises many new jobs but is less clear about which jobs could be lost through AI.
Still, the overall direction is remarkable. Canada is not placing fear of job losses at the center, but the ambition to create new employment and higher productivity. That is politically bold, but also necessary. Countries that do not actively use AI do not automatically protect jobs. They risk value creation, companies and talent emerging elsewhere instead.
The decisive question is therefore not whether AI will change work. It will. The question is whether a country shapes that change or chases after it.
Productivity becomes the decisive metric
Canada explicitly links AI with productivity. That is central for Germany as well. The German economy is struggling with weak growth, labor shortages, an aging population and high cost burdens. Without a productivity boost, it will be difficult to secure prosperity, the welfare state and competitiveness at the same time.
AI can be one lever. It can automate routine tasks, accelerate knowledge work, improve customer processes, relieve administration and optimize industrial workflows. But none of that happens automatically. Productivity does not arise from owning an AI tool, but from intelligently integrating it into real processes.
That is why the Canadian plan is so interesting: it combines adoption, qualification, capital, infrastructure and sovereignty. Germany would need to think in a similar way — adapted to its own industrial and Mittelstand structure.
Regulation alone does not create a future
With the AI Act, Europe has created an important framework. Rules for high-risk AI applications, transparency, fundamental rights and safety are necessary. But regulation is not a business model. It creates trust, but not new products, new jobs or new champions.
Germany therefore needs its own economic AI agenda alongside European regulation. This includes computing infrastructure, data spaces, public procurement, AI training, support for the Mittelstand and startups, faster administration and a clear answer to the question of which industries should be specifically strengthened through AI.
Otherwise, the familiar pattern threatens to repeat itself: Germany regulates thoroughly, while others scale faster.
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