Carney says new Major Projects Office will help build a “Canadian sovereign cloud”

PM says cloud infrastructure is vital for security, AI, and quantum leadership.

Prime Minister Mark Carney will ask his newly launched Major Projects Office (MPO) to help develop a “Canadian sovereign cloud.”

Carney announced the intention while outlining the MPO’s inaugural priorities in Edmonton on Thursday. While the sovereign cloud is not mentioned on the MPO’s official project list, Carney provided some details in his address. 

“This would build compute capacity and data centres that we need to underpin Canada’s competitiveness, to protect our security, and to boost our independence and sovereignty.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney

“This would build compute capacity and data centres that we need to underpin Canada’s competitiveness, to protect our security, and to boost our independence and sovereignty,” Carney said. “This will give Canada independent control over advanced computer power while reinforcing our leadership in AI and quantum.” 

BetaKit has reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office, the MPO, and the Ministry for the One Canadian Economy for more details. 

The MPO launched at the end of August. Headquartered in Calgary, with the intention of creating offices in other major Canadian cities, its mandate is to streamline regulatory approval and coordinate financing for “nation-building projects” set out by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The MPO’s inaugural projects include liquid natural gas pipelines, nuclear reactors, as well as expanding mines and the Port of Montréal. There are also potentially transformative “early-stage” strategies that the prime minister said needed development through the MPO, including in critical minerals, high-speed rail, carbon capture, and the Canadian sovereign cloud. 

“Taken together, these projects can deliver transformational benefits to Canadians, driving growth and jobs and income for decades,” Carney said. 

Council of Canadian Innovators president Ben Bergen told BetaKit in an email that his organization will judge Carney’s success on whether the government’s procurement propels the growth of Canadian companies.

“It’s encouraging that Prime Minister Carney sees sovereign cloud as a national imperative on a par with pipelines and ports,” Bergen said. “We need to be building sovereign digital rails to ensure that we are in firm control of our data and our digital commerce.” 

Feature image courtesy Prime Minister Mark Carney via X.