PM defends visa granting process
Some researchers unable to attend conference on artificial intelligence
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended the way Canada issues visas for foreign researchers attending conferences at an event Thursday announcing federal funding for Montreal-based artificial intelligence. More than 100 international researchers who had planned to attend the conference on neural information processing systems, which is taking place in Montreal until Saturday, were unable to get the required visas. Among them were researchers from internationally recognized universities such as Oxford. “Canada has a rigorous and independent visa system. We’re always looking to learn from negative experiences,” Trudeau said. “Canada is world class in the way that it approves visas and encourages people from around to the world to come participate in important global conversations like these.” On Tuesday, Yoshua Bengio, a Université de Montréal professor and one of the pioneers of modern AI technology, said the visa issues were “a shame for Canada.” Asked about the issues on Thursday, Trudeau said he was just hearing about them, adding that he “was sure” the issues would be looked at. Trudeau was at the headquarters of Element AI — a company cofounded by Bengio — in Montreal to announce $230 million in federal funding for Scale AI, a “supercluster” focused on improving supply chains using artificial intelligence and robotics. The Montreal-based consortium of more than 110 businesses and organizations was one of five “superclusters” selected in February as part of a federal initiative. In total, the superclusters will receive $950 million in federal funding. Trudeau said the Scale AI supercluster is expected to help create 16,000 jobs over the next 10 years. The supercluster will help Canadian businesses seize new opportunities, as well as attract new talent and investment from around the world and help make Canada an AI leader, Trudeau said. The federal funding will be matched by the private sector, he said. The Quebec government said on Thursday it will provide an additional $60 million in funding to Scale AI.