The federal government will spend more than $2.3-billion through its new national artificial intelligence strategy, which lays out plans to increase business adoption, provide free training and literacy skills to Canadians and boost funding options for start-ups.

The government is billing the highly anticipated, long-delayed strategy as a pragmatic approach to a technology that could have profound implications for society and the economy. Ottawa aims to instill trust in AI among Canadians, without falling into an overly positive or negative view of the technology. It describes its strategy as “AI for All.”

The plan, originally targeted for release at the end of last year, will be formally unveiled Thursday morning in Toronto after months of anticipation from tech companies, researchers and civil society groups.

Ottawa’s strategy covers the six pillars defined in the government’s spring economic update: protecting Canadians from harm, AI skills training, business adoption, digital sovereignty, helping AI companies scale and forging relationships with like-minded allies.