Canada

Summary
Data for Canada suggests a medium level of digital dependence. Its DDI value increased modestly from 0.69 in 2010 to 0.73 in 2023. During this period, dependence on digital trade increased, albeit remaining comparatively low, rising from 0.73 to 0.79 for ICT goods and from 0.30 to 0.38 for ICT services. During this period, Canada remained highly dependent on Chinese ICT goods (an average of 0.97), whereas its trade dependence on American ICT goods was significantly lower (an average of 0.47). Reliance on foreign platforms has fluctuated slightly in recent years, but remains at a very high level (0.98 in 2023), as does the patent dimension (0.99 in 2023).

Policies
The Canadian government implemented multiple policies to reduce digital dependence between 2020 and 2026. Besides investments in the fields of semiconductor production and cloud infrastructure, the topic of Artificial Intelligence was addressed most prominently: The “National Artificial Intelligence Strategy” launched in June 2026, called for "AI for All" and has a broad societal focus. It aims at reaching this goal by providing AI training for all Canadians and treating the AI knowledge as a critical national resource.