More than 150 post-secondary students gathered at the Empire Club of Canada on Sept. 25 to share their perspectives on Canada’s AI future and engage directly with Evan Solomon, Canada’s Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation. Among them was Armaan Hayer, an Osgoode Hennick JD/MBA student who helped facilitate the discussion through the Empire Club Foundation’s Student Table Program.
The program followed AI for All: Building Canada’s AI Future, hosted by the Empire Club of Canada, which brought together leaders from government, business and academia to examine how Canada can respond to the rapid development and adoption of artificial intelligence.
Armaan Hayer, Chair of the Education Committee and a member of the Empire Club Foundation’s Board of Directors, helped facilitate the Student Table Program. The program gave students an opportunity to share their perspectives and engage directly with Solomon on the opportunities and challenges emerging alongside AI.
The discussion comes as governments and organizations consider how to build AI capacity while ensuring it is used safely and responsibly. At the event, Solomon announced $162 million over five years through Mitacs to support 10,000 paid AI-related placements for post-secondary students, recent graduates and postdoctoral fellows. The initiative is intended to connect emerging talent with Canadian organizations as they adopt and develop AI.
For Osgoode students, the implications of AI extend beyond the technology itself. Its growing use is raising questions about regulation, privacy, accountability, intellectual property, access and governance. Lawyers will play an important role in addressing these issues.
Those topics were reflected in the broader event discussion, which explored the pace of AI adoption, the importance of safety and trust and how Canada can build AI capacity while continuing to benefit from international partnerships. Speakers also considered the importance of choosing technology appropriate to the task, recognizing that everyday applications do not always require the most advanced models.
Osgoode was represented at the event by Trevor Farrow, Dean of Osgoode; Bridget Bilski, Assistant Director of the JD/MBA Program; Minerva Cernea, Director of the Schulich Centre for Career Design; and Tammy Kim-Newman, Director of Industry Partnerships at York University.
For students studying law and business, opportunities such as the Student Table Program provide a chance to engage directly with policy and industry leaders shaping an emerging field. They also reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary questions future lawyers will face as AI becomes part of Canadian workplaces, institutions and everyday life.
Osgoode students are already helping shape conversations about Canada’s AI future.