TRU horaizon

Adjusting the Sails: TRU horaizon and Canada’s AI Future

cmckelvey

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Weyt-kp. Bonjour. Hello everyone, 

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails” — a quote I spotted on a postcard today that felt like the perfect opening for this week’s message. 

Since my last update 

Canada’s national artificial intelligence strategy: AI for All

Last week, Canada launched AI for All — a five-year national AI strategy built around six pillars: protecting Canadians, empowering Canadians, powering shared prosperity, building sovereign infrastructure, scaling Canadian champions and trusted international partnerships. The targets are significant: $200 billion in economic growth, 250,000 new AI-related jobs and AI adoption rising from 12 per cent to 60 per cent by 2034. 

This direction shapes where our country is heading. What we can control is how TRU horaizon responds — where we lean in, where we have real ground to stand on, where we still have work to do and how we set our community up for success. 

The case for urgency is sharper than the headline numbers suggest. Canada ranks 44th of 47 countries on AI training and literacy and 42nd on trust in AI systems. Fewer than a quarter of Canadians report having received any AI training. That’s the real gap this strategy is trying to close: confidence and skill, alongside adoption. 

A few things stood out to me that’s particularly relevant to us: 

  • Skills. The National AI Literacy Initiative aims to reach 1 million post-secondary students and train 3,000+ educators, with libraries and community organizations as delivery partners in rural and remote regions. Colleges, CÉGEPs and polytechnics are named as “applied AI leaders” for hands-on adoption support and SME partnerships.
  • Infrastructure. Government is pursuing a “build-partner-buy” approach to deliver 850 megawatts of compute by 2030, scaling to 2.3 gigawatts. A new $700 million Compute Access Fund expansion targets SME access to sovereign compute.
  • Indigenous AI leadership is named as a priority — Indigenous-led research, data standards, language models, land management tools and cultural heritage systems, with self-determination as the goal.

How TRU horaizon maps to it, and where we have work to do 

A lot of this aligns with what we’re already building via TRU horaizon. Our full-stack model — renewable energy, sovereign compute through Bell AI Fabric, values-first AI grounded in Secwépemc principles, applied research — matches the strategy’s sovereignty and trust pillars closely.  

Our Safe Start Framework is the kind of governance model the federal strategy is asking universities to build. Game Changers and our learning model fit squarely in the opportunity pillar.  

And while we celebrate our alignment with the strategy across key areas, I recognize that there’s still more opportunities we need to explore: 

  • AI literacy at scale. The federal strategy frames AI literacy as reaching all Canadians — not just students in traditional programs. TRU’s open mandate has potential to contribute and deliver value, at scale, across the Interior and beyond. 
  • Youth placements. The 90,000 placement commitment splits across the Student Work Placement Program, Canada Summer Jobs, Skills for Success and Mitacs ADOPT/AI+X. That’s four different programs touching Careers and Experiential Learning, Research, TRU horaizon, and many other teams at TRU. An opportunity to keep collaborating.
  • Regional ecosystem. The strategy calls for sovereign infrastructure with community benefit. Kamloops — with Bell AI Fabric on campus, BC Hydro clean power and Secwépemc land — is a strong case for the Interior. We’ll keep building that story, grounded in our institutional values.

TRU horaizon in focus — so what’s next? 

An incredible job by the TRU horaizon team for leading us thus far, and continuing to raise the bar on what’s possible. 

  • Championing values-first AI. Strategy that isn’t values-first risks losing sight of who it’s meant to serve. There are areas where we’re ahead, and we should share that work so other universities can build on it — @Matt Norton presented at CANHEIT and to the team at Wilfrid Laurier University; @Airini shared our values-first approach with The Logic.
  • Elevating our governance standards.@Shika Vatsis expanding the Safe Start Framework to include agent safety and governance, keeping us operating safely within clear boundaries. 
  • Deepening best practices and guidelines. @Liesel Knaack and @Brian Lamb continue consultations on teaching and learning guidelines. @Lincoln Smith has joined our leadership team to bring a research lens into our work.
  • Enabling more people to learn AI. @Priti Yadav is mapping out our foundational journey, with a strong focus on community-based learning — building environments where we can create together and learn from each other.
  • Leading with Game Changers. Our leads — @Quan Nguyen, @Zeinab Teimoori and @Ghazanfar Latif — are actively building first-of-a-kind products that support TRU’s values and commitments to learning, sustainability and community.
  • And a few other things on our radar: more cross-university sharing of great work happening here; a speaker series targeting fall; bridging TRU horaizon to more corners of TRU … and more.

Til next time 

As always, your ideas and feedback are a gift. Share them with me at horaizon@tru.ca 

Xyemstwécw. We respect each other, the land, knowledge and the peoples of our region. That commitment continues to guide how we approach new technologies and their impact on our community. 

Kukwstsétselp. Merci. Thank you, 

Andrea Li 
Special Advisor to the President on AI