How Canada Can Lead in Medical AI—Talent, Data, and Urgency

Canada has the potential to lead in medical AI—but leadership won’t be decided by technology alone.In this episode of Wired for Change, Amy Yee sits down with Dr. Khaled El Emam to explore what it will really take to move medical AI from promise to practice. Drawing on real-world deployments in Canadian healthcare, they unpack why talent, data, and urgency—not hype—are now the deciding factors.This conversation covers:Where medical AI is already delivering real impactWhy deployment lags behind technical capabilityHow trust, transparency, and responsible data use enable scaleWhat Canada risks by moving too slowly—and what it gains by acting nowGrounded, pragmatic, and optimistic, this episode is about leadership, legitimacy, and why the window to act is open—but narrowing.Find out more about OMARI: https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-medicine/research-and-innovation/ottawa-medical-ai-research-institute-overviewFind out more about Amy Yee:www.amyeyee.comChapters:00:00 – Why medical AI feels urgent right now02:05 – AI isn’t new, but the moment has changed04:50 – Where medical AI is already in use07:45 – System efficiency and clinician burden10:15 – Why healthcare innovation is hard to deploy12:30 – Competitiveness, dependency, and local models15:05 – Moving from analysis to action17:40 – Data access as opportunity and constraint20:10 – Canadian examples of AI in practice24:05 – AI scribes and clinician sustainability26:45 – Patient-facing tools and informed decisions29:40 – Risks of generic AI tools31:50 – What enables successful deployment34:30 – Who pays for medical AI?36:45 – Why stories and trust matter39:10 – Public legitimacy and social license42:00 – Talent as a competitive advantage45:15 – Multidisciplinary leadership and optimism48:50 – Entrepreneurship and real-world impact53:10 – IP, innovation, and staying ahead57:40 – Competing without the biggest budget01:01:50 – Compute, regulation, and urgency01:06:10 – Practical privacy and de-identification01:11:40 – Toward national standards01:15:30 – What’s driving optimism01:19:00 – Closing reflections