AI and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon said Ottawa wants more foreign companies to expand in Canada and employ more people in the country. Incentives help do that, he said, addressing criticism from Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke that the government’s support for Finnish company Nokia’s expansion in Kanata, Ont., amounted to a bribe. “It’s a competitive environment,” said Solomon. (The Logic)

Talking point: The federal government contributed $40 million to Nokia’s innovation campus in the Ottawa suburb, which broke ground this week. Lütke said in an X post that he’s tried convincing civil servants that subsidizing foreign companies in Canada disadvantages domestic ones. “The fruits of the subsidized labour will accrue to the wealth of other countries and not Canada,” he said. Solomon told reporters after an AI funding announcement Friday that having a mix of domestic and large foreign firms is good for Canada, particularly now, as the country navigates a trade conflict with the U.S. “Part of our imperative is to make sure Canada is resilient and has new trade partners,” he said.