Global technology experts report that China leads the international race to deploy advanced physical humanoid robotic machinery.
Standing Committee Hears Warnings that Canada Lacks the Infrastructure to Execute Advanced Physical AI
OTTAWA — Canada possesses world-class artificial intelligence research talent but suffers from a critical deployment gap in its core strategic industries, a national innovation executive told parliamentarians in Ottawa on May 7, 2026.
Appearing before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology, Kulbir Colin Singh Dhillon, executive director of the Centre for Designing Change, warned that the country is failing to move its digital innovations into real-world applications.
“The reality is that Canada doesn’t have an Al research problem, rather, we have an AI translation problem,” Dhillon testified. “We are very good at developing models and advancing ideas at a research level. We are much less effective at deploying these systems into the environments where they actually create value, for example, factories, supply chains, infrastructure and the core industries that drive our economy.”
Conservative MP Michael Guglielmin pressed the witness on how this technological shift will impact the domestic workforce, asking, “From your perspective, where do you think the truth is, and what do you think the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs will be?”
Dhillon provided a stark assessment, stating that AI represents an unprecedented development for humanity that cannot be compared to past industrial advances like electricity or computer power.
“Al should not be deemed to be a technology. Rather, it’s a digital species,” Dhillon said. He noted that corporate financial incentives will naturally drive automation at the expense of human employment. “The largest line item on anyone’s balance sheet, for any corporation or any company, is human labour,” Dhillon explained. “Let’s not kid ourselves that corporations and companies will not look to reduce the head count of their companies if they can, both digital and physical, because they will.”
The committee heard that these workplace changes will expand far beyond office environments. Dhillon stated that while the technology is “currently attacking white-collar jobs,” it will “inevitably affect both blue-collar and white-collar jobs” and result in a definitive “head count reduction.”
Guglielmin followed up by asking where Canada ranks in the deployment of advanced autonomous hardware, inquiring who is winning the race today.
Dhillon replied that Canada is being vastly outpaced by global competitors, particularly overseas. “Who’s winning the race today outright is China. China has registered 50 to 150 humanoid robotics companies,” Dhillon testified, adding that “Canada currently has two companies registered that are building humanoids.”
The witness emphasized that the stakes are incredibly high for the domestic economy, pointing to long-term financial forecasts. “Morgan Stanley’s report from April 2025 suggests that by 2050, humanoids will be a $5-trillion revenue industry,” Dhillon said. “In context, that’s double the size of the global automotive industry.”
Liberal MP Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba questioned what concrete measures are required to bridge the national infrastructure gap and move forward.
Dhillon concluded his testimony by calling for a decisive shift in public policy to support physical deployment rather than just abstract research. “Canada does not lack ambition in Al; we lack infrastructure to execute it,” Dhillon stated. “If we can close that gap, particularly in physical Al and strategic industries, we will have a real opportunity not only to participate in this shift but also to actually lead in it.”
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