How British Columbia Is Betting Big on AI and Quantum Computing

The province is not just experimenting with emerging technology. It is building an economy around it.

British Columbia is in the middle of a serious technological transformation, and it goes well beyond upgrading government websites or launching a few pilot projects. The province has committed to a 10-year plan that places artificial intelligence and quantum computing at the centre of its economic future. The strategy has a name, a budget, and some ambitious targets. Here is what it looks like in practice as proposed.

The Big Picture: The “Look West” Strategy

The provincial government’s “Look West” strategy is the master plan driving all of this. Its goals are concrete: double tech-sector employment to 400,000 jobs by 2032, grow the technology sector’s economic contribution by 75%, and attract $200 billion in private investment over the next decade.

The strategy is partly a response to global uncertainty. Trade disruptions and tariff pressures have pushed BC to diversify its economy away from traditional resource industries. Technology, and specifically AI and quantum computing, is where the province is placing its biggest bets.

To support that growth, the government has committed $214 million annually by 2028-29 for skilled trades and technology training, along with 4,000 new tech-specific training spaces.

AI in Government: Already Delivering Results

BC has moved past the pilot stage. More than 50 AI projects are currently in production or active planning across provincial ministries. The results are tangible.

Saving time in social services. The Ministry of Social Development deployed automation bots that connect 11 different internal systems to compile financial reports for benefit applications. In their first year, these bots saved 11,000 working hours and handled 46,000 service requests, freeing staff to focus on the people who actually need help.

Speeding up child care approvals. The province’s child care platform now automatically approves roughly 80% of renewal applications, cutting delays and ensuring that funding reaches families and facilities on time.

Keeping firefighters safer. The BC Wildfire Service uses machine learning to analyze satellite imagery and map fire perimeters remotely. Planners get accurate, real-time data without sending crews into dangerous zones.

Improving road safety. The Ministry of Transportation uses video analytics to analyze near-miss collisions on highways. That data directly informs decisions about signage, lighting, and road design.

Helping citizens navigate government. Since 2020, the government’s virtual assistant on Gov.bc.ca has handled over 1.75 million questions from the public.

Healthcare: Managing AI Adoption Before It Manages You

One of the most forward-thinking initiatives in BC’s health sector is the “BC Scribe Trial,” led by the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA). It is arguably the most coordinated evaluation of ambient AI note-taking technology in Canadian healthcare history.

The trial was born out of a practical problem: clinicians were already using consumer AI tools like ChatGPT to document patient visits, with no institutional oversight. Rather than ban those tools and drive the behaviour underground, health authorities designed a structured evaluation program.

Six AI scribe vendors are being assessed across approximately 8,000 healthcare providers, with strict requirements around patient privacy, data handling, and clinical accuracy. Following the trial, clinicians will have access to pre-negotiated pricing of around $50 per month through provincial master agreements, allowing for wide adoption without a massive upfront public expenditure.

Meanwhile, Interior Health is piloting a virtual emergency department model called LINK-ED. A physician physically present at one hospital provides real-time virtual support to up to three rural sites overnight. This is a direct response to the physician shortages that have forced emergency department closures in smaller communities like Lillooet, Clearwater, and Princeton.

The Rules: How BC Plans to Keep AI Accountable

Growing this quickly without guardrails would be reckless, and BC knows it. The province has published a set of six “Responsible Use Principles” that apply to all public bodies using AI:

1. Transparency – Explain what the AI does and give people a way to challenge its outputs.
2. Accountability – Keep humans in the loop and continuously monitor performance.
3. Public Benefit – Only deploy AI where it actually serves a clear public purpose.
4. Fairness – Actively test for bias in both the data going in and the decisions coming out.
5. Reliability – Ensure systems perform consistently over time, not just at launch.
6. Safety – Build privacy and security protections in from the start, not as an afterthought.

Independent oversight bodies are pushing for more. The province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner has noted that only 33% of Canadians believe government leaders are transparent about their use of emerging technology. Specific recommendations on the table include mandatory notification when someone’s application is processed by an automated system, a guaranteed right to human review, and expanded whistleblower protections for the more than 325,000 public sector employees who might raise concerns about AI use.

Quantum Computing: BC’s Longer Game

If AI is BC’s near-term priority, quantum computing is its long-term bet. The province has legitimate standing here. It is home to D-Wave, the world’s first commercial quantum hardware company, and 1Qbit, the first dedicated quantum software firm. The sector employs around 500 people and attracted over $730 million USD in investment between 2018 and 2023.

The provincial government is channelling this momentum through the Quantum Algorithms Institute (QAI) at Simon Fraser University, which connects universities with industry to commercialize quantum research.

One of the most consequential partnerships involves BCI, the province’s investment manager overseeing approximately $295 billion in assets for 32 public sector clients, including pension funds. BCI is working with the QAI on two priorities. The first is using quantum computing for portfolio optimization and risk modeling. The second is preparing for the day when quantum computers become powerful enough to break today’s encryption. Getting ahead of that threat now is considered essential for protecting institutional data.

On the research side, the federal government is investing $46.6 million in BC-based infrastructure, including the “Vancouver Quantum Network,” a regional quantum communications network designed to make the province a global leader in secure communications. A separate federal program, the Canadian Quantum Champions initiative, will invest up to $334 million over five years to help BC firms scale toward full industrial-grade quantum capability.

Powering It All: The Energy Challenge

There is a less glamorous constraint sitting underneath all of this growth: electricity. AI data centres are energy-intensive, and demand has outpaced what the provincial grid planned for.

BC responded with Bill 31, which replaced the old “first come, first served” approach to power allocation with a competitive bidding process. Projects now have to earn their place on the grid by demonstrating economic benefit, data sovereignty, environmental efficiency, and a neutral impact on residential electricity rates.

The first 400 megawatts of capacity will be allocated through this process starting in September 2026. Complementing this is the North Coast Transmission Line, a $6 billion infrastructure project expected to create 9,700 jobs and unlock $45 billion in economic activity once operational.

What Comes Next

The province’s roadmap through 2032 includes some notable ambitions:

• AI will be formally integrated into the K-12 curriculum, with a new advisory committee guiding that work.
• Crown corporations like ICBC are expected to deploy more autonomous AI systems to modernize claims processing and reduce fraud.
• Post-quantum security standards will be established across government systems within three to five years.
• Permitting timelines will be cut by 50% through AI and digital tools by 2030.

The Bottom Line

British Columbia is not treating AI and quantum computing as side projects. It has built a strategy around them, set measurable targets, established ethical guardrails, addressed the energy infrastructure required to support them, and created institutional partnerships to make the ambition real.

The province is attempting something genuinely difficult: move fast enough to capture economic opportunity, but carefully enough to maintain public trust. Whether it succeeds will depend on execution, workforce readiness, and whether the governance frameworks keep pace with the technology. But the architecture is more coherent than most jurisdictions have managed so far.

For businesses operating in BC or considering it, the message is straightforward. The province is building significant capacity in AI and quantum. The government intends to be a customer, a partner, and a regulator in that space simultaneously. The province has realized something important: understanding that landscape is no longer optional.