B.C. Needs an AI Strategy That Helps Homegrown Companies Grow

By Kiersten Enemark
CCI's Director of B.C. Affairs

As British Columbians are preparing to vote in the provincial election on October 24, 2026, the next B.C. government will face pivotal decisions about the province’s economic future. Before them will be an opportunity to harness artificial intelligence (AI) to drive productivity, strengthen competitiveness and ensure more of the economic value it creates stays in B.C.  

The goal should be clear: to make businesses more productive, improve public services and help more Canadian-owned companies turn their technology into revenue and growth, all while maintaining safeguards that protect the public.

British Columbia has more than 700 companies using AI to solve practical problems. The province needs a strategy that helps businesses use these technologies, and helps the companies building them grow here, sell internationally, and retain ownership of their ideas.  

Our election primer, What B.C.’s Innovators Need to Scale, offers a starting point. Its recommendations would use government purchasing, investment, and major projects to help homegrown companies win customers. Research funding helps companies develop technology, but paying customers allows them to hire, improve their products, and expand. Government can use its considerable purchasing power to better position homegrown companies to win customers, generate revenue and scale.  

The primer proposes a B.C. Innovation Procurement Hub to turn successful trials into full government contracts. For AI companies, this would provide revenue and proof that their products work, making it easier to win their next customer. B.C.’s work to bring government IT teams and systems together through Connected Services BC offers an opportunity to buy Canadian AI tools that improve services and reduce duplication. Companies should have a chance to solve problems shared across ministries, rather than repeat small trials that never lead to a sale.

Each trial should start with a clear problem, a buyer with a budget and agreed standards for performance, privacy, and safety. If it succeeds, there should be a clear route to a purchasing decision. Government should also consider where suppliers conduct research, own their intellectual property, control data and make business decisions—not just the price of a product. The same approach should apply to major projects. The primer’s proposed Public Infrastructure Innovation Mandate would require government-funded infrastructure and resource projects to include Canadian technologies. AI should be part of that effort, giving homegrown firms a chance to win business from provincial investments.

Businesses also need help putting AI to work. That takes money, useful data, skilled people, and time to change how they operate. Support should focus on specific business problems, with a straightforward test: does the technology improve results enough to justify its cost?  

Helping businesses adopt AI must go hand in hand with helping Canadian suppliers grow, retain ownership of their technology and keep more of the resulting income in Canada. That requires access to reliable computing resources and useful public data, with sensitive information protected under Canadian law and clear rules about its use.

Public safety and accountability must be built into the strategy. Higher risk uses should face stronger scrutiny, with clear procedures for addressing harm. Companies need to know what is expected of them, with responsibilities based on what they control. Rules should protect the public without creating duplicate reporting or unnecessary paperwork that takes resources away from improving products and serving customers.

B.C. should measure success by results: Canadian companies winning customers, businesses becoming more productive, more homegrown technology reaching the market, and effective protection of privacy and public safety. The next government has the purchasing power, investments, and policy tools to make this happen. An AI strategy should bring them together to help B.C.’s companies grow, and keep more of the benefits anchored here at home.
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Kiersten Enemark is the Director of B.C. Affairs at the Council of Canadian Innovators – Canada’s business council for domestic scale-up innovation companies. She leads CCI's British Columbia work, including advocacy and engagement with innovators and provincial and local policymakers.

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