With AI surging in this decade, efforts are made around the world to organize AI governance. The European Union enacted the AI Act, and other jurisdictions are acting to steer AI development in line with public policy aims. In Canada, Bill C-27 died with the 2025 election, but the new federal government is bound to return to AI governance soon.

By all accounts, AI governance will affect the robotics industry, since measures rest on a broad AI definition that encompasses AI embodied in robots. Yet there is a disconnect: on the one hand, the robotics industry appears not to engage with AI governance, while on the other hand, AI governance measures seem to be designed for software-implemented AI. This roundtable is for everyone following regulation and policy in the AI and robotics sectors, including robotics manufacturers, developers, integrators, policymakers, legal professionals, and researchers.

Presentation – Navigating the AI Governance Landscape (30 minutes)

• An overview of current global AI governance debates, including key aspects of the EU AI Act and anticipated Canadian regulations.
• A focused analysis of how these evolving regulatory frameworks are poised to affect the robotics industry, particularly concerning the broad definition of AI that includes embodied AI systems.

Open Discussion & Workshop Insights (60 minutes)

• Presentation of key findings and results from a recent industry workshop on AI governance and embodied AI (held in August 2025).
• Ample time for a facilitated discussion where participants can react to the workshop results, share their perspectives, and raise critical questions.

Key outcomes from this session will include:

• Actionable Insights for Robotics Stakeholders: Attendees will gain a clear understanding of specific regulatory trends and compliance obligations directly impacting the design, development, and deployment of robotic systems. 
• Identified Gaps and Opportunities for Policy Input: We will pinpoint areas where current AI governance frameworks don't adequately address the unique challenges or opportunities of embodied AI, fostering a shared understanding of where the robotics industry needs to contribute its expertise to policy development.
• Strengthened Industry-Policy Dialogue: Our ultimate goal is to build a foundation for ongoing collaboration to shape effective and innovation-supportive AI governance for robotics.

This roundtable is linked to a research project entitled “Filling the governance gaps in embodied AI”, led by Profs. AJung Moon (McGill University) and Pierre Larouche (Université de Montréal), with Dr. Keri Grieman and Ms. Leah Davis. The research benefits from the support of IVADO and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

Canada's construction industry faces urgent challenges, including a housing crisis and persistent productivity declines. While robotics and AI offer a clear path to a more efficient and productive future, their adoption remains largely in the pilot stage in the construction sector. What would it take to turn promising demonstrations into repeatable results?

The session will build directly on insights from the Edmonton AI x CE (Artificial Intelligence and Construction/Engineering) Strategy, which highlighted the value of a private-sector-led innovation ecosystem. It will also build on the recently published Roadmap to Transform the Canadian Construction Industry and the Canadian Construction Automation and Robotics Roadmap, which collectively call for greater collaboration, standardized frameworks, and targeted R&D to drive the adoption of new technology in Canada’s IC sector. 

We will create a collaborative space for robotics and automation firms, construction and demolition companies, researchers and leaders real estate, infrastructure, economic development and housing to reflect on early lessons and shape the path forward. Our goal is to build a shared understanding of the barriers and enablers to robotics and automation adoption in IC, while fostering actionable ideas for pilots and partnerships, and support future collaborations, including project teams applying to the NRC’s Construction Sector Digitalization and Productivity Challenge (CDSP) Program or Ontario’s Trade Impacted Communities Program.

• Discussion 1: Why is construction different? We will explore what makes technology adoption harder or easier in this sector, specifically within the context of Modularization/Pre-fabrication, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and Additive Manufacturing.
• Discussion 2: Can procurement unlock innovation? We will focus on how government and large buyers can support robotics through outcome-based procurement and innovation partnerships, directly addressing the question of how to create the right conditions for adoption across these IC categories.

Key outcomes of this session will include:

• Blueprint for Strategic Procurement: A concise summary of best practices and policy recommendations for using outcome-based procurement to de-risk technology adoption and incentivize collaboration between innovators and industry, with a focus on IC projects.
• Proposal for a National Construction & Robotics Working Group: An initial plan outlining the mandate and key stakeholders for a new CRC working group that will serve as a crucial collaboration hub for joint industry, academic, and government projects. (This will directly address the NRC roadmaps' call for a national consortium and align it with the CRC's existing structure.)
• Refined Proposal Strategy and Partnerships: Direct participant feedback and collaborative ideation will produce a more robust and well-defined strategy for teams preparing proposals. The session will help participants identify and connect with potential collaborators who can strengthen their proposal in terms of technical expertise, market adoption, and policy perspectives, addressing both the proposal strategy and partner identification needs in one focused outcome.

Pre-Reading

• Roadmap to Transform the Canadian Construction Industry (University of New Brunswick, University of Alberta)
• Canadian Construction Automation and Robotics Roadmap (University of Waterloo)
• Unleashing Innovation in Construction & Engineering: Our Next Industrial Cluster (Edmonton Chamber of Commerce)

This roundtable builds directly on our work at the 2024 CRC Symposium, exploring responsible integration of robotics in the workplace, which emphasized the critical need for early worker engagement and cross-sector collaboration in robotics adoption. In this follow-up, we invite participants to help refine a draft toolkit for ethically integrating robotics into the workplace, specifically by centring the role, agency, and well-being of the workforce.

The toolkit is based on Foresight into AI Ethics (FAIE), a structured methodology developed by the Open Roboethics Institute to guide ethical decision-making in AI development. Originally designed for non-embodied AI systems, the toolkit is now being adapted to address the distinct challenges posed by robotics, particularly their embeddedness in physical environments and direct impact on human labour. This session is for anyone invested in the responsible adoption of robotics in the workplace, including workers, labor representatives, HR professionals, robotics developers and integrators, business leaders, policymakers, ethicists, and researchers.

• Toolkit Overview (10-15 minutes)
  • We will introduce the FAIE toolkit and explain our motivation for adapting it to robotics, emphasizing the unique ethical considerations of embodied AI.
• Interactive Co-Creation (60 minutes)
  • Participants will critique and expand on the existing toolkit through discussions of real or imagined workplace scenarios involving robotics integration. We'll explore practical applications and identify areas for improvement. Key questions will include:
• Why do workers need to be involved in the design, integration, and adoption of robotics?
• What forms of worker engagement are appropriate at different stages of robotics adoption, and how should they be structured?
• What safeguards can ensure robotics enhances, rather than undermines, job quality, safety, and career progression?
• Synthesis & Next Steps (15 minutes)
  • We will collaboratively synthesize ideas, surface key case examples, and identify interest in continuing this work through a dedicated working group or as an open resource.

Session outcomes will include:

• Refined Draft Toolkit: Direct participant feedback will lead to a more robust, practical, and worker-centric version of the FAIE toolkit for robotics integration.
• Documented Workplace Scenarios & Solutions: We will capture specific real or hypothetical workplace scenarios, along with co-created solutions and ethical considerations relevant to robotics adoption.

Foundation for Future Collaboration: The session will identify individuals and groups interested in continuing this important work, fostering ongoing development and dissemination of ethical robotics integration practices.

This roundtable will explore the development of a national framework to map dual-purpose robotics capabilities—technologies that serve both civilian and defence applications—with a focus on accelerating Canadian innovation in alignment with emerging defence initiatives. As Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) launches the Borealis initiative, this session aims to position Canadian robotics innovators as strategic partners in shaping the future of defence technology by aligning directly with the initiative's core mandate of advancing AI, robotics, and other emerging technologies.

Our goal is to collaboratively review the structure of a proposed capabilities map, identify key stakeholders, and outline actionable next steps to engage DND as an early adopter of best-in-class Canadian robotics and Physical AI solutions. By fostering awareness and understanding within DND, this roundtable seeks to unlock initial project funding and lay the groundwork for a follow-up workshop and national capability map document that will generate shovel-ready projects aligned with Borealis priorities.
This session will benefit:

• Early to growth-stage robotics startups developing dual-use technologies
• Academic researchers seeking defence commercialization pathways
• Established companies exploring strategic engagement with DND

Key questions we will address include:

• What are the core components of a dual-purpose robotics capability map, and how can it be structured to align with DND priorities?
• How can Canadian innovators effectively engage with DND to secure early-stage project funding and support?
• What mechanisms exist to ensure domestic IP retention and commercialization within defence procurement frameworks?
• How can existing federal funding streams best be leveraged to advance dual-use robotics solutions? 
• What are the Canadian Robotics ecosystem's recommendations on how the Borealis initiative can be leveraged to accelerate adoption of Canadian robotics technologies?
• What are the best practices for building shovel-ready projects that meet defence standards and timelines?

Suggested Pre-Reading:

• Creating Impactful One-Pagers using the Heilmeier Catechism, a powerful framework used by DARPA to evaluate research proposals. This framework will help participants better prepare and structure their proposals for DND.

Canada faces a critical productivity gap, and next-generation AI-robotics offers a powerful solution. Advances in 4D scene understanding, agentic reasoning, robotic mobility, and manipulation are converging to enable a new era of intelligent, flexible robotic systems that can significantly boost productivity and GDP growth across key Canadian sectors.

This is a focused working session directly supporting a major NFRF-Transformation (NFRF-T) proposal led by Professor Steven Waslander and colleagues at the University of Toronto Robotics Institute and the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. Our NFRF-T proposal uniquely integrates cutting-edge robotics with strategic innovation policy to drive world-leading advancements with high commercialization potential. In this workshop, we aim to identify high-impact technical applications of flexible robotic agents within Canada's primary industries (manufacturing, resource extraction, construction, logistics) that can be propelled by this integrated approach.

We welcome academic, industry, and government leaders with technical insights into advanced autonomy. We also seek those with deep expertise in translating innovations into real-world Canadian challenges and national strategy, particularly given the NFRF-T's dual technical/policy thrusts and focus on fostering a strong Canadian robotics ecosystem with commercial success. This session will cover:

• NFRF-T Vision & Pillars (15 minutes): Proposal overview: strategic aim, core technical & policy pillars, and staged pathway to commercialization/adoption.
• Collaborative Technical Ideation (60 minutes): Pinpoint autonomy scenarios where advances in scene understanding, agentic reasoning, mobility, and manipulation will lead to significant breakthroughs. We will brainstorm concrete, technically feasible robotic prototype concepts for real-world impact, and explore their potential pathways from research to market.
• Strengthening the NFRF-T Team (15 minutes): Identify potential partners to fill proposal gaps (ECRs, EDI, policy) and industry partners to bolster commercialization.

This session will directly contribute to the NFRF-T proposal by producing:

• Prioritized Technical Application Scenarios with Commercial Potential: An inventory of high-potential robotic ideas, including technical approaches, required breakthroughs, and early insights into commercial viability.
• Direct Input for Proposal's Technical & Impact Sections: Concrete insights for the NFRF-T's technical, impact, and commercialization arguments.

Identification of Key Partners for Comprehensive Impact: Potential collaborators who can enhance the NFRF-T proposal in terms of Early Career Researchers (ECRs), Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), policy perspectives, and strong industry partners to maximize commercialization and adoption potential.

This roundtable aims to foster a critical discussion on safely implementing human-robot collaboration, specifically addressing how to apply the latest ISO standards to achieve this. We will explore common misconceptions that lead to unsafe applications and collectively identify implementation challenges. Our goal is to understand how current standards either support or hinder the wider adoption of collaborative applications.

This session is designed for manufacturers, integrators, and end-users with experience or a keen interest in implementing collaborative robot applications.

We will begin with a guided presentation followed by an interactive open discussion:

• Presentation & Q&A (60 minutes)
  • Topic 1: Overview of Key Industry Standards and Recent Changes: We will review the latest technical revisions to ISO 10218-1/2, particularly the crucial shift from "collaborative robots" to "collaborative tasks and applications." Understanding these changes is vital for correct implementation.
  • Topic 2: Critical Safety Considerations and Common Misconceptions: We will address the dangerous misconception that 'collaborative robots' are inherently safe and require minimal or no safeguarding. We will highlight how this leads to inadequate risk reduction measures and puts workers at risk, emphasizing important safety considerations for both end-users and integrators.
     
• 30 minutes: Open Discussion
  • Question 1: Current Challenges: What specific challenges do integrators and users currently encounter when implementing safe collaborative applications?
  • Question 2: Evolving Standards: What changes or additions are needed in industry standards to further support the safe and widespread implementation of collaborative applications?

Our ultimate aim is to enhance understanding and encourage greater participation in robot industry safety standards. By the end of this session, we intend to:

1. Develop a set of high-level questions that end-users can effectively ask robot integrators when implementing collaborative applications in their facilities.
2. Provide a practical tool to help ensure that appropriate risk reduction measures are consistently implemented, thereby reducing technical barriers to the adoption of collaborative applications.

Canada's reputation as a leader in space robotics is built on decades of public investment and groundbreaking missions. In an era of new federal mandates for greater efficiency and fiscal restraint, a critical challenge is to bridge the gap between space-based breakthroughs and terrestrial applications. This is vital to ensure that public investment generates maximum return for the entire Canadian economy. For the robotics ecosystem, this represents a significant opportunity to access cutting-edge, publicly-funded technology and to contribute its own innovations to the future of space exploration.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is pleased to host this in-person roundtable consultation. This session is designed to gather early input from leaders in the Canadian robotics innovation ecosystem, using the CRC Symposium as a timely platform to engage with a cross-section of the ecosystem, identify synergies, and explore the potential for new partnerships. This consultative roundtable is an opportunity to collaboratively explore how to improve and expand technology transfer (TT), fostering a two-way flow of innovation that strengthens both our space program and our national economy.

Structure (90 minutes)

• Overview of CSA’s TT role and activities: A brief presentation by CSA staff on the agency’s TT role, activities, including its goals and existing programs.
• Open discussion on barriers, opportunities, and mechanisms for TT in the space and robotics sectors: A moderated conversation to explore the challenges and successes of technology transfer in the space and robotics sectors.
• Exploration of spin-off and spin-in opportunities between space and non-space technologies: A collaborative discussion on the potential spin-off applications where space technologies can create new value in non-space industries, and to consider spin-in opportunities where terrestrial technologies can be adapted to enhance future space missions.
• Feedback and recommendations from participants: A final round-up to summarize key themes and gather feedback, which will help to inform the CSA's future TT strategies.

This roundtable is designed to facilitate a dialogue that will directly contribute to the CSA's strategic planning. The insights gathered will inform key CSA stakeholders, with the goal of producing:

• A Deeper Understanding of TT Challenges: A prioritized list of the main challenges hindering effective technology transfer and commercialization between the space and non-space sectors, from the perspective of the broader robotics community.
• Identified Themes for Collaboration: A summary of potential synergies and collaborative themes that could form the basis for future partnership opportunities between different organizations (SMEs, academia, large industry, non-profit and government).

Insights for a more agile and connected TT approach: A summary of feedback and a clear set of recommendations that will help the CSA improve its technology transfer

Canada faces a critical window of opportunity to define its economic future through leadership in robotics and AI. From the Canadarm to deep neural networks, AI-robotics excellence is deeply embedded in Canada's history and is a defining characteristic as a nation. However, a prevailing perception among Canadians is that the country's advanced technologies sector is either overshadowed by larger global players or out of touch with everyday realities. Reshaping this narrative is crucial, as broad public understanding and support are vital for fostering the policy changes and investment necessary for a robust, tech-driven economy.

Building a confident national identity around advanced technologies—one that effectively attracts business investment and talent—requires a collaborative effort. The insights of training institutions and economic development agencies are essential, as their expertise in leveraging place-based branding to drive economic growth and attract top talent is invaluable. Canadian robotics and AI experts, with their strong international networks, are uniquely positioned to illuminate the compelling stories and potential for a technology-enabled future, providing unique content to empower broader national awareness. This collaboration can create a powerful blueprint and storybook that showcases Canada as an advanced tech-faring nation, inspiring Canadians and attracting global partners. 

Our session will begin with a brief overview of robotics and AI in Canada (10 mins). The core discussion will examine specific case studies where other regions have successfully reshaped their self-image around robotics and AI through strategic public engagement (50 mins). We will then review how these strategies can be adapted to elevate Canada's national identity as a robotics and AI leader, enhancing its overall appeal for economic development, investment, and talent attraction across critical sectors, (e.g. mining, forestry, space, manufacturing), reflecting the country’s unique economic challenges and opportunities (30 mins).

Our goal is to co-create the foundations for a strong national narrative in AI-robotics. Key outcomes of this session include: 

• Identified Communication Gaps: A concise summary of challenges hindering public understanding and perception of Canada's robotics and AI innovation.
• Blueprint for Engagement: Initial strategic directions, stakeholders and actionable concepts for both grassroots and national approaches that empower partners (tourism, economic development, talent development) at a variety of scales to leverage Canada's AI-robotics strengths for investment, talent, and homegrown adoption.
• Narrative Building Blocks:  Core messages, compelling stories, and historical touchpoints from Canada's AI-robotics landscape to seed future campaigns.

Partner & Funding Pathways: Identification of potential key partners and preliminary funding considerations to sustain national awareness efforts.