By Qaisar Ahmed | Founder, AIForEdu.ai | February 2026

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Canada ranked 44th out of 47 countries in AI training and literacy. Let that sink in.

A country that has invested billions in AI research through its Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, created a Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, and is home to world-class AI labs in Montreal, Toronto, and Edmonton — ranks near the bottom when it comes to actually preparing its students and teachers to work with this technology.

The gap between Canada's AI ambition and its classroom reality is not just embarrassing. It is dangerous.

The Policy Vacuum Is Real

Right now, roughly half of Canadian universities have any formal policy on generative AI. For K-12, the picture is even more fragmented.

Some school boards — like the Halton District School Board in Ontario and the Ottawa Catholic School Board — have moved proactively. Others have done nothing. Many have banned AI tools outright, hoping the problem goes away.

It will not go away.

The Canadian Teachers' Federation has called on the federal government and the Council of Ministers of Education to develop enforceable policies that protect student privacy, regulate classroom AI use, and promote responsible adoption.

Ontario released generative AI guidelines for publicly funded schools. British Columbia published guidance for school leaders and families. Alberta's teachers have expressed increasingly urgent views on AI integration.

But no province has a comprehensive, mandatory AI literacy curriculum. No national framework exists. Teachers are left to figure it out alone.

Meanwhile, Students Are Already Using AI

A KPMG survey found that 59 percent of Canadian students are now using generative AI for schoolwork.

Students are using ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and dozens of other tools to study, debug code, draft essays, and solve problems — whether or not their teachers know about it.

The Future Skills Centre and the Conference Board of Canada found that about 80 percent of educators report having little or no training on how to integrate generative AI into their teaching.

Teachers are being asked to navigate a technological revolution with no map, no compass, and no support.

The PowerSchool Wake-Up Call

In December 2024, PowerSchool — used by school boards across Canada — suffered a massive data breach affecting approximately 62 million individuals.

The Toronto District School Board reported that data going back to 1985 may have been accessed, covering approximately 1.49 million students.

Privacy commissioners concluded that many school boards lacked proper security clauses, oversight mechanisms, and breach response plans.

This was not just a technology failure. It was a governance failure.

AI literacy must include data privacy, vendor assessment, and digital governance — not just prompt engineering.

What We're Building

AIForEdu.ai exists because Canadian educators deserve better than a patchwork of borrowed American resources and absent policy.

We are building a Canadian AI education platform — rooted in our regulatory landscape, aligned with provincial curricula, and focused on real classroom realities.

• Privacy compliance that matters here. Understanding FIPPA, MFIPPA, PIPEDA, and provincial privacy laws.
• Provincial curriculum alignment. Resources built for Canadian standards and assessment frameworks.
• Realistic tool recommendations. Evaluated through a Canadian data and compliance lens.
• Training beyond hype. Building genuine AI literacy — not just enthusiasm.

Who We Are

AIForEdu.ai is a product of Impact Glocal Inc., a Canadian corporation.

I am Qaisar Ahmed, the founder. My background spans technology, international development, and education. I hold degrees from Brandeis University and Canadian Mennonite University and have worked at the intersection of AI and education across multiple regions.

I started AIForEdu.ai because I have seen what happens when technology transforms education without teachers being prepared. It creates inequality. It creates confusion. It creates harm.

And I have seen what happens when educators are properly equipped. They do extraordinary things.

What Comes Next

Every week, we publish in-depth analysis, practical guides, tool reviews, and policy updates focused on AI in Canadian education.

We are developing professional development workshops for school boards, starting in Manitoba. We are building Canada's first AI educator certification program. And we are creating tools designed specifically for Canadian classrooms, hosted on Canadian servers.

Canada's AI strategy is missing its most important piece: the classroom. We are here to fix that.

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