Canada is putting up to C$1.6 billion into Cohere

This time the state isn't handing out a grant. It's buying shares. Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement in Montréal on 29 October 2026. The Canadian government will make an equity investment of up to C$1.6 billion in Cohere, the Canadian artificial intelligence company. The money will be paid in instalments. In return the state becomes a shareholder in the company and takes a share of its growth. The government calls this a commercial investment made side by side with private investors. It names NVIDIA, Bell and Schwarz Group (the owner of Lidl and Kaufland) as partners.

The official statement lists what Cohere has promised. By 2030 the company will create at least 1,000 new technical jobs in Canada and build at least C$1.7 billion worth of additional computing infrastructure. It will also keep its incorporation and its headquarters in Canada. It will report on these promises at regular intervals. Then again, those reports will be the real yardstick of the deal; talk is cheap, paperwork is not.

According to press reports, the state's stake is part of Cohere's Series E round (the company's fifth major funding round), which is aiming for about C$7 billion. The same reports put the company's value at around C$36 billion. These figures are not in the government's statement; they appear only in the reports. Nor has anyone said when the round will close.