CANChat
CANChat is a generative AI chatbot designed for the Government of Canada. It is a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, in addition to analyzing or sorting existing information.
It works like a virtual assistant that has learned from huge amounts of text, images and sounds—and can use what it learned to write or create things on its own.
CANChat empowers its users to optimize productivity and efficiency. It helps them brainstorm and accelerate draft steps, allowing them to focus on the more human-centred tasks that matter most.
CANChat doesn’t think or understand like a human. It predicts what comes next based on patterns, but it can make mistakes and still needs review.
Transcript
Joshua Turner, Manager, Data Science and Artifical Interlligence, Shared Services Canada
So what is CANChat? It’s a generative AI chatbot, very much like the experiences people are used to with ChatGPT or Claude or something like that, but this is both built in and operated in Canada by the Canadian government for the use of the Canadian federal public service.
The development of AI technology worldwide is imbalanced. We see a handful of hegemons involved in the creation of the core technologies, and Canada needs to step up to become a world leader, a world participant in the development of AI technology.
Principally in the federal public service, we have requirements that are broader than what we find in the private sector. We have our requirements around accessibility, official languages and alignment with various policies and laws that extend beyond what we’ll generally find from what we can purchase in the private sector. Our key consideration, however, was sovereignty. We wanted to make absolutely certain that the creation and operation of this technology took place in Canada and that it is operated by Canadians and subject to Canadian law and only Canadian law.
Benefits for Canadians
CANChat empowers public servants to deliver better outcomes for Canadians by making their work faster, smarter and more focused on people:
- Speeds up service delivery: Reduces administrative burden and completes repetitive tasks in minutes, allowing Canadians to get answers and services sooner
- Improves access to accurate information: Helps public servants quickly find reliable, up-to-date information, reducing delays and ensuring Canadians receive clear, consistent guidance
- Enables better, faster decisions: Supports timely, well-informed decisions based on trusted data, improving the quality and fairness of services Canadians receive
- Frees up time for what matters most: Allows employees to focus on complex cases, client needs and program improvement—delivering more meaningful support to Canadians
...all while keeping Canadian data secure and digitally sovereign.
Protecting Canadians’ data
CANChat is more than a productivity tool. It reflects Canada’s commitment to digital sovereignty.
We’ve built and are operating CANChat entirely in Canada, safeguarding all data it generates.
Which brings us to large language models (LLMs).
An LLM is an AI tool that processes large amounts of data to produce natural-sounding text, making it useful for tasks such as answering questions or creating content.
CANChat offers a variety of LLMs to use, including models that are Canadian-built and Canadian-hosted to:
- ensure its outputs reflect Canadian context, values and priorities (such as recognizing that Parliament is in Ottawa or that the tax deadline is April 30)
- reduce reliance on foreign technologies
- strengthen our self-determination and data control
- promote secure, unbiased AI services
CANChat deployment
SSC has begun the deployment of CANChat with some GC departments and agencies. We plan to expand the user base in a phased approach starting in July 2026, until full GC coverage is achieved.
If your department or agency has deployed CANChat, to find training and learn how to use the tool, visit: Using CANChat
Stories
Related information
- CANChat (GCXchange) (accessible only on the GC network)