Canada’s AI skills gap includes business leaders, data scientists and educators: report

Canada is recognized internationally as a global research hub for artificial intelligence. But the country needs a lot more professionals with AI-related skills to move AI from research labs to mainstream businesses, according to a new report.

“The most important thing is we need to have AI literacy everywhere. Every industry sector needs to educate its senior management, from the executive level to the board level,” David Ticoll, author of a report for TECHNATION, told Research Money.

TECHNATION, previously the Information Technology Association of Canada, is the national voice of the $184-billion information and communication technology industry. Ticoll is a distinguished fellow at the Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.

Seventy-two per cent of Canadian executives face moderate to extreme AI skills gaps, his report found. Canadian executives rank last among seven leading countries in recognizing the strategic importance of AI for business success.

“There’s not just a supply gap (in AI skills), there’s a demand gap because we don’t have the knowledge at the enterprise level to know what to ask for,” Ticoll said.

AI-related job postings in Canada increased to 6,840 in 2018 compared with 2,218 in 2015, a compound annual growth rate of 46%, according to his report.

Yet despite this significant increase in AI workforce demand, AI-related courses in Canadian universities and colleges “have long waitlists and crowded classrooms [and] not enough AI educators are available,” the report states. “The student AI/data science pipeline is far from meeting the needs of employers and the economy.”

Only seven of Canada’s 81 public universities (University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Alberta, University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, Université de Montréal, and McGill University) offer broad portfolios of undergraduate and graduate AI and/or data science courses and programs. Eight additional universities offer graduate programs and three or more undergraduate AI courses.

There are lots of incentives for AI research and related advanced skills development, Ticoll said. “But no minister of post-secondary education in the country, to my knowledge, is saying we need to invest heavily in industry-focused or broad-economy focused skills development for AI.”

Ticoll’s report found there was a 282% increase in demand from 2015 to 2018 for AI business technology professionals, for jobs such as chief information officer, systems analyst and IT project manager. However, the 603 job postings for such professionals in 2018 “[were] insufficient for AI to move from research to the mainstream.”

“We should launch a national campaign for AI literacy for all Canadians,” Ticoll said, arguing that government and industry need to work together and ensure there is an AI pilot program in all post-secondary institutions in every province and territory.

Federal, provincial and municipal governments should mandate centres of excellence to develop and implement cross-government strategies for AI and data science skills development, his report recommends. Ticoll also makes the case that AI and data science knowledge, skills, personal and societal implications should be taught appropriately at all education levels and programs, including K-12, post-secondary and adult education.

“We have many advantages to enable Canada to be a learning nation,” Ticoll said. “We just need to focus our learning on this (AI) as an important part of that mandate.”

Leverage research and talent to grow AI businesses, study author says

Meanwhile, a separate new study by the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) highlights some positive aspects of Canada’s AI ecosystem. The study, written by Alexandra Cutean, senior director, research and policy, at ICTC, involved interviews with industry leaders in eight countries.

“I think we do have to celebrate our successes. It’s definitely no small feat to be one of the main global hubs for AI research, and we certainly should be proud of that,” Cutean said in an interview.

“But we also need to focus on helping to grow the local ecosystem of AI businesses: How do we take those companies from startups to successful scaleups and international anchor companies for AI?”

Interviewees identified the availability of skilled AI talent in Canada as a top factor incentivizing AI-based foreign direct investment, according to the ICTC study. About 95% of interviewees were aware of some key developments in Canada’s AI space, with many citing the University of Toronto, McGill University, and the University of Alberta as top-notch institutions developing AI talent.

Interviewees also felt that Canada, with its liberal immigration system (especially compared with that in the U.S.) that prioritizes skilled talent, gave Canada a significant advantage in attracting AI-skilled international talent.

The federal government’s Global Skills Strategy, launched about three years ago, led to a fast-track visa process and is “viewed as a resounding success,” the study says. More than 24,000 highly skilled international workers have entered the workforce since the program’s launch. “Global Skills is really supporting the needs of industry as well,” Cutean said.

Interviewees identified regional AI hubs, such as the Vector Institute (in Toronto), Mila (Montreal) and Amii (Edmonton), as essential to attract researchers and foreign direct investment.

However, some interviewees also worried about retaining talent in Canada, given the proximity to the U.S. and access to higher-paying top tech hubs in New York, Boston, Seattle and Silicon Valley.

A study last year by the University of Toronto and Brock University found one in four STEM graduates from institutions like the University of Waterloo, the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia were working outside of Canada in 2018. For software engineering, graduates, 66% of grads were internationally based, mostly in the U.S.

“Talent is one of our greatest attributes,” Cutean said. “We need to continue to engage that talent, make sure we’re widening the pipeline of talent, both in terms of quantity and in types of people getting engaged in AI, and continue to support international talent that wants to come here.”

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