News Summary

A new national initiative called Responsible AI Adoption for Social Impact (RAISE) has been launched to enhance AI adoption in Canadian non-profits. The program is jointly backed by the federal government’s DIGITAL Global Innovation Cluster, Toronto Metropolitan University’s The Dais think tank, Creative Destruction Lab, and the Human Feedback Foundation. The initiative aims to create a framework for ethical AI governance focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion, and measurable outcomes. The Dais will offer AI training to 500 non-profit staff, while the Creative Destruction Lab will run a year-long ‘AI Adoption Accelerator’ to integrate AI into the operations of significant non-profits like the CAMH Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society. The initiative comes as a response to a report highlighting that only 4.8% of Canadian non-profits currently use AI. The program is co-funded by DIGITAL, which announced $15 million for AI-based career and training projects, with RAISE receiving $650,000. This effort aligns with wider Canadian goals to lead in ethical AI use for social impact.