OTTAWA — Ireland wants to help Canadian tech companies scale up across the Atlantic Ocean, its enterprise minister told The Logic, as the country gets ready to shepherd new regulations on artificial intelligence through the European Union next year.

Peter Burke, Ireland’s minister for enterprise, tourism and employment, was in Toronto and Ottawa last week on a mission to expand trade and investment with Canada—especially through greater connections in the tech sector. The morning after joining hundreds of guests at “Irish Night on the Hill,” where he was spotted chatting with Evan Solomon, Canada’s minister for artificial intelligence and digital innovation, Burke sat down with The Logic at the Irish ambassador’s residence in Ottawa.

A ‘digital superhighway’

Ireland is a regional hub for many major tech companies, with giants such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and LinkedIn setting up offices in Dublin to serve as their headquarters for Europe as well as the Middle East and Africa. Burke said being able to plug into that ecosystem is one reason why Canadian tech companies might choose Ireland to scale up their global ambitions.

To help, Burke said he stressed to Solomon that Ireland will assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1—a role that rotates between members of the 27-nation bloc every six months—and plans to be “at the heart” of its legislation on digitalization.

“We will really be driving home the simplification agenda, doing things simpler, lighter and faster,” Burke said. The day before, the European Commission had proposed sweeping changes to regulations on privacy and AI. Among them: delaying implementation of stricter rules for using AI in “high-risk” areas such as biometric identification and law enforcement until December 2027. Burke said that would allow regulations “to catch up with the pace of technology.”

In June, the federal government launched consultations on a possible digital trade agreement with the EU that could improve the flow of data and make it easier to co-operate in areas such as AI and cybersecurity. It would complement the existing Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which Ireland expects to ratify soon. Burke said he and Solomon discussed “how we can add on that digitalization piece as a superhighway between the EU and Canada,” he said, speaking figuratively, “because we have so much commonality and shared objectives in it.” Burke said they agreed to keep talking, including when Ireland sends another high-level trade mission to Canada next April.

Sofia Ouslis, a spokesperson for Solomon, said the minister welcomed hearing Ireland’s perspective ahead of its presidency, and looks forward to speaking again with Burke and other international partners “as Canada advances its work on AI, digital innovation, and building trusted frameworks that support economic growth.”

Growth opportunities

The Irish government has done its homework on how it could boost bilateral trade with Canada, which Ireland views as a critical market as it joins much of the world in looking to diversify its business relationships outside the United States. It produced a report with the Conference Board of Canada on areas of potential for growth. The report estimates that two-way merchandise trade, which was at $4.7 billion in 2024, could increase by more than $2.1 billion per year through stronger imports or exports across 13 product categories. 

Not all of them are easy. Canada could export up to $480 million more per year in oil and gas, for example, but that would require major investments in both Ireland’s capacity to refine and Canada’s capacity to export to Europe.

Both countries are taking steps to build that kind of infrastructure, said Burke, who lauded Prime Minister Mark Carney’s moves to accelerate the approvals process for major projects in the national interest. “We’re trying to mirror that almost in Ireland,” he said. “We’re hoping to bring forward emergency legislation in the next month, which will focus on what are the key projects that are strategically important to the success of our economy, and how can we deliver them quicker.”

The report also estimates that Canada could export an additional $710 million per year in services to Ireland through growth in consulting, air transport and financial services. In areas such as research and development or travel for business and leisure, however, Canada is already overperforming in the Irish market, the report says. The other way around, the report identifies computer services as one area where Ireland could increase exports by up to $87 million per year by integrating with Canada’s growing tech sector.

A ‘gateway to Europe’

Joining Burke on the trip was Mary Buckley, executive director of IDA Ireland, a government-funded agency that helps foreign-owned companies set up and expand in the country. “Our focus is very much around the areas of technology,” she said. She noted Clio, the legaltech firm based in Burnaby, B.C., announced earlier this month it is opening a new office in Dublin, where it has had a presence since 2013. She also pointed to OpenText, a business software company based in Waterloo, Ont., that has been in Ireland for 30 years; and Ottawa-founded Shopify, which set up operations in Ireland a decade ago.

Ireland’s team on the trade mission also met with other companies with a presence in Ireland, including Imax, automotive tech firm Geotab, TD Securities and Sun Life, said Deirdre Moran, the country manager of Canada at IDA Ireland.

As an English-speaking country, Ireland has been positioning itself as an entry point into the European market for businesses in countries such as Canada looking to diversify. Burke also championed its political stability. “You absolutely have extreme certainty on how your investment will be treated for common law jurisdiction with fair interpretation of the courts,” Burke said. “We can absolutely set out that the rules will not change with political stability that runs through the core of Ireland’s economic policy over many, many decades.”