Answer ... (a) Healthcare
The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research’s AI for Health Task Force has identified the potential of AI to:
- improve the effectiveness, efficiency and safety of healthcare delivery; and
- contribute to better public health policies and the development of innovative tools and treatments in Canada.
Today, AI in healthcare in Canada primarily consists of machine learning in image-based applications, such as diagnostic imaging/radiology. Image-based AI applications are heavily dependent on the availability of quality data, and without it, there is a risk of perpetuating existing biases. However, Canada is seen as falling behind its peers in the development of health ‘infostructure.’ Access to health data in Canada is limited because healthcare delivery is under the jurisdiction of provincial governments; local privacy laws prevent the free flow of data and there are also issues of data interoperability.
Health Canada has identified AI applications in healthcare as advanced therapeutic products (ATP) – those that are personalised, developed at the point of care and manufactured, distributed and used in ways different from traditional health products. Based on the new provisions in the Food and Drugs Act, Health Canada has been working to introduce a ‘pathway’ that would allow the authorisation of new ATPs through the ‘regulatory sandbox’ approach by the end of 2021. The regulatory sandbox approach would allow Health Canada to authorise new products in an agile manner by testing them and developing tailored regulations for them.
(b) Security and defence
Autonomous weapons systems are referenced subtly in Canada’s defence policy, by way of reference to maintaining “appropriate human involvement” in the use of military capabilities that can exert lethal force. Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s mandate letter specifically listed advancing international efforts to “ban the development and use of fully autonomous weapons systems”. However, the government of Canada has not clarified how AI will be used in security and defence. Defence and Research and Development Canada released a Military Ethics Assessment Framework in 2017 that could be applied to use AI in the military, but this serves as a guideline rather than concrete regulations. For now, Canada does not have regulations specific to the use of AI in security and defence.
(c) Autonomous vehicles
While fully autonomous vehicles (self-driving cars) are rarely spotted on the roads in Canada, many current vehicles have AI-powered safety features such as automatic emergency braking, automated steering and adaptive cruise control. Federal, provincial/territorial and municipal governments have differing policy jurisdictions over transportation. In this context, Transport Canada has published several guidance materials, including Testing Highly Automated Vehicles in Canada: Guidelines for Trial Organizations (2018) and Automated and Connected Vehicles Policy Framework for Canada (2019). Local governments across Canada also have pilot projects, such as Ontario’s 10-year pilot programme (2016) and the City of Edmonton’s Autonomous Vehicle Pilot project (2018). However, Transport Canada does not currently have any uniform standards for these technologies.
(d) Manufacturing
Some 10% of Canada’s economy depends on manufacturing and the government of Canada has invested in advanced manufacturing to maintain its global competitiveness. For instance, one of the five superclusters (see question 2.5) is dedicated to advanced manufacturing, with total funding of up to C$230 million. In advanced manufacturing, AI can be integrated into all stages, from production to quality control. Currently, Canada does not have regulations specific to the use of AI in the manufacturing sector.
(e) Agriculture
Agriculture is another key economic sector for Canada and the government will be investing up to C$153 million in the protein industries supercluster, based in the Canadian prairie provinces. AI could be applied in all stages of agricultural production (planting, seeding and harvesting) and farm management. Specifically, AI applications in predictive analytics could help with weather predictions, farm efficiency and early detection of risks. The application of AI in agriculture raises potential ethical concerns over algorithmic transparency, data and privacy, animal welfare and the environment, which could lead to regulatory issues. However, Canada does not have regulations specific to the use of AI in the agricultural industry.
(f) Professional services
The use of AI in professional services includes risk mitigation analysis, applied in industries such as consulting and regulatory compliance. As of April 2021, British Columbia and Ontario have approved regulatory sandbox pilots for innovative legal services, which would allow companies to get a provisional approval for operation, subject to risk-based monitoring and reporting requirements. However, Canada does not have regulations specific to the use of AI in the professional services sector.
(g) Public sector
The government of Canada released a Directive on Automated Decision-Making, which sets out the purposes, objectives and goals of employing AI to make or assist in making administrative decisions to improve service delivery, and an accompanying Algorithmic Impact Assessment tool. While the directive offers helpful insights, Canada does not currently have regulations specific to the use of AI in the public sector.
(h) Other
A subset of the use of AI in the public sector is AI in law enforcement – for example, the use of facial recognition software and the use of algorithms to predict future crime. As a result of the public concerns raised with these types of police applications and the recent Clearview AI breach, there is an increase in public pressure to ban facial recognition technology in policing.