The AI journey of the House of Commons of Canada
By Ms. Victoria Lindia, Deputy Director – Artificial Intelligence & Digital Experience Strategy, House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada is navigating the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) with a structured, ethical approach that prioritizes a human-centric framework. At this early stage in our journey, we are aiming to balance innovation with data protection, fiscal responsibility, and continuous communication with our employees and clients.
Progress from 2024 to 2025
Our AI journey began in April 2024 with the launch of a working group on AI, followed by the establishment of specialized subcommittees focused on key areas: AI strategy, corporate planning, member services, guardrails, policy review, and events and communications. Throughout this process, we have prioritized transparent communication and regular updates to employees as we explore how to integrate AI into our organization.
During our May 2024 open house/town hall event, we conducted a sentiment survey to gauge employee reactions to the introduction of AI tools in the workplace. The findings – 60% positive, 37% negative and 3% neutral – offered valuable insights into initial attitudes and helped shape our engagement strategy moving forward. A month later, in June 2024, we introduced an AI hub on our intranet, featuring guidelines and resources to support the responsible use of AI-powered tools.
A second sentiment survey, conducted during an October 2024 employee event, revealed a shift in attitudes: 66% positive, 27% neutral and only 7% negative. These figures indicated a reduction in negative sentiment.
In April 2025, we introduced a generative AI (GenAI) awareness campaign and included an interactive AI kiosk at an employee event. Survey results show growing support, with 74% of respondents expressing positive sentiment, 18% neutral and 8% negative – a clear sign of increasing acceptance. Still, we remain mindful that even amid positive feedback, some employees continue to express concerns about potential changes to their roles. Addressing these thoughtfully remains a key priority.
In May 2025, to coincide with our Members’ Orientation Program following the general election on 28 April, we rolled out online GenAI resources for MPs, offering practical guidance on responsible use for members and their staff.
Guiding principles: Privacy, responsibility and innovation
Building on the feedback received from consultations and employee events, we now are in the final stages of approving our AI strategy. At its core, the strategy is built around five pillars that form the foundation of our approach: strategy and governance, data and risk management, employee experience, client experience, and projects and value. As we move towards being an AI-enabled organization, these pillars are designed to support our values: accountability, human-centric and inclusive, ethical use and impartiality, and innovation.
Use of AI tools and services
AI-powered tools are becoming ubiquitous, and most applications have incorporated (or will incorporate) AI functionality in some form. This is especially true for web-based services. These services, both paid and free, are being used on a daily basis to take advantage of a variety of AI functionalities, whether users are aware of them or not.
Using network traffic reporting capabilities, we have begun reporting on this usage, in an anonymous way, to understand what tools are being used and what types of AI services are being consumed. This understanding of the most commonly used functionalities could potentially lead to corporate-sanctioned tools being made available to users. In addition, it gives us the ability to better understand fiscal expenditures and formulate strategies to reduce costs.
AI in practice
While we are still in the early stages of making GenAI tools available organization-wide, some key operational areas are seeing some measurable benefit from using specific AI functionalities. Some of those listed below have been deployed, while others are in varied stages of testing:
Automated speech recognition
Machine translation
Optical character recognition
Document intelligence
Closed captioning
AI-powered code development
We are also assessing the AI tools employees and clients bring to their work. By monitoring usage and gathering feedback, we aim to stay aware of organizational needs while responding with tailored resources and guidelines, ensuring safe and effective integration.
Looking ahead
We plan to finalize and formally adopt our organizational AI strategy in the autumn of 2025, guided by our core pillars and values. Early initiatives will prioritize cybersecurity resilience, as well as equipping users to recognize and respond to emerging threats such as deepfakes. These efforts will be supported by ongoing sentiment tracking, targeted training, data-driven decision-making and, most importantly, a continued commitment to transparency and open communication.
At the House of Commons of Canada, we are committed to leveraging AI responsibly to enhance our organization’s mission to deliver exceptional services to our MPs.
