The Canada Brief

Canada · 14 d ago

Evan Solomon

Eurasia Group · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

AI minister awarded a $13 million training contract without a tender, by his own account

Contract to the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute

13 million dollars

Federal AI Minister Evan Solomon used his discretion to award $13 million to the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII) in September for three AI training courses.

And I said it's going to be Cam Linke and AMII. These guys get it.

— Evan Solomon, in a Sep 9 speech

Cam Linke, who heads the institute, sits on the federal Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence and has shared the stage with Solomon at least four times since summer 2025.

The first course, posted Sep 21, launched with English-only videos and French acronyms that appear to have been made up by AI, according to reports; the institute has since corrected it.

What we know

  • $13 million went to AMII in September
  • Services over $40,000 normally go to tender

Not yet

  • Whether there was a tender
  • Why the department chose AMII

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada has not confirmed whether the contract went to tender, saying only that AMII has considerable expertise in AI education.