# Canada’s National Council on AI Needs Creatives

Kory W. Mathewson · 2026-10-22 · https://korymathewson.com/canadas-national-council-on-ai-needs-creatives/ · Canada's new National Council on AI is missing a critical voice: the creative industries. Why we need artists and creators at the table as Canada shapes its AI future.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mark Carney [announced a new council](https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/10/02/prime-minister-carney-launches-new-national-council-artificial) to advise on Canada’s AI transformation. This council is another step the federal government is taking to address [Canada’s significant AI adoption gap](https://korymathewson.com/why-dont-canadians-use-ai/). These leaders, researchers, and experts are tasked with giving practical advice to the government. I know several of the members personally, and I have deep confidence in their expertise. **But there is a critical voice missing from the council.**

I have written about [early adopters](https://korymathewson.com/early-adopters/), [creative tools on demand](https://korymathewson.com/creative-tools-on-demand/), and how AI [unlocks human creativity](https://korymathewson.com/unlock-more-creativity/). As the PM’s council convenes, it must look beyond applications in the tech and education sectors and consider the impact of this technology on Canada’s creative industries.

## Why does the council need a professional creative?

Canada’s creative industries will be among the most disrupted as AI adoption accelerates. As this council shapes policy, Canadians need representation not only from experts in technology and policy. They need representation from the artists and creators whose very craft is being reshaped.

Beyond domain expertise, creatives bring a valuable discipline: they know how to prototype possibilities and imagine new futures. The artistic act is fundamentally about stepping into someone else’s perspective, stress-testing new human experiences, and making the abstract something that we can feel. Art instills a real sense of what the world could actually look like.

Canada is playing catch-up in global AI adoption; we need to move faster just to meet the average. We need leaders who can read the horizon and get us there quickly. We need artists.

## How will AI change Canada’s creative industries?

Professional creative industries are poised for more than disruption; they are facing a revolution. [I first wrote about this in 2023](https://korymathewson.com/film/), speculating on the possibilities of generative AI in filmmaking. AI is more than a new layer of automation. It is a disruptive force that will be the storytelling medium of our generation. A novel expressive medium that we are just beginning to explore.

The policies, regulations, guardrails, and guidance developed by this council will have an outsized effect on creative industries. We need a creative professional on the council to:

1. advocate for creators and ensure that AI makes the lives of Canadian artists and audiences better;
2. design strategies that celebrate, protect, and amplify Canadian stories in the age of generative media; and
3. build new economic models that increase, rather than dilute, the value of creative labour.

Today, Canada’s arts and culture sector [generates over $130 billion in economic activity](https://canadacouncil.ca/research/arts-impact) and supports over one million jobs. Given that a core objective of the federal AI for All strategy is to [create 250,000 new jobs](https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/canadas-national-artificial-intelligence-strategy-ai-all), innovation in the creative sector can be a massive driver toward this target.

This council needs to think beyond data centres and corporate AI. Film, television, gaming, and live performance should be included in a creative pillar holding up our national AI strategy.

What impact could we make economically, culturally, and globally if Canada were positioned as a leader in AI-enabled creativity? What ambitious productions could we attract? What investments could we unlock? And what creativity could we unleash? As both an AI scientist and an artist, those are the questions I want us to answer.

## A seat at the table for creatives

We need to add a seat on the council dedicated to the creative industries. Canada’s approach to AI will change the creative industries forever. The advice of this council must include representation from the industry that may be the most disrupted.

We’ve set the table for a conversation on sovereignty, economics, and new technology. Now, it’s time to invite a creator. A poet. A painter. A filmmaker. Because if Canada is truly going to build AI for All, the conversation must include the people who create and carry our culture.