Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Canada and Coveo
Backgrounder
The Government of Canada, represented by Shared Services Canada (SSC) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Coveo Solutions Inc. (Coveo), a Canadian leader in applied artificial intelligence (AI) based in Québec. This strategic collaboration aims to advance digital government modernization and strengthen Canada’s AI ecosystem.
The MOU establishes a framework for exploring opportunities to deploy AI-powered enterprise solutions across government operations to enhance service delivery to Canadians and increase internal efficiency. These include:
- generative and agentic AI technologies
- enterprise search and personalized recommendations
- applied AI use cases to improve citizen services and internal efficiency
Generative AI and agentic AI have different roles. Generative AI creates content like text, images or code based on patterns it has learned. It responds to prompts by producing outputs like summaries, an image or a piece of code, but it does not act beyond generating content.
Agentic AI, on the other hand, can plan, reason and carry out tasks towards a goal. It works as an AI assistant, breaking down objectives and making decisions without constant human input. For example, while generative AI can create a draft report when promoted, agentic AI could automatically retrieve the relevant data, format the report and send it through the proper workflow. In short, generative AI creates content, while agentic AI takes actions and manages processes independently.
By investing in made-in-Canada AI, SSC is not only modernizing and enhancing public services but also supporting innovation in Canada’s tech sector. This agreement with Coveo is a foundational step toward building a trusted, sovereign AI ecosystem that reflects Canadian values and safeguards Canadian government data.