Canada’s AI gamble: Bold vision, blurry rules for global robotics companies

MLT Aikins writes that in June 2026, the federal government launched AI for All, a national AI strategy built on six pillars and five priority sectors, robotics chief among them[1]. According to the Prime Minister's Office, over five years the strategy "will introduce new legislation, investments, and programs"[2].MLT Aikins says robotics' place among the priority sectors signals that federal dollars, procurement preferences and regulatory attention will flow disproportionately toward companies building and deploying robotic systems in Canada[1].The firm expects follow-up laws to be incremental and, by design, less immediately strict than the European Union's model[1]. It says this should let investors and operators enter the Canadian market faster and at lower upfront cost[1].MLT Aikins warns, however, that the strategy commits to modernizing privacy and safety law only in the abstract, without specifying what those modernized rules will require or when they will arrive[1]. The firm adds that Canada has left compliance obligations to emerge piecemeal[1].DLA Piper reports that the government will handle AI risks through targeted legislation, including promised privacy modernization and online safety bills, rather than through a single comprehensive regulatory framework[3].According to Fasken, on June 15, 2026, the federal government introduced Bill C-36[4], which would create a new private-sector privacy law to replace PIPEDA.