On June 1, 2026, Manitoba's Public Sector Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity Governance Act received Royal Assent, establishing a framework for transparent, accountable AI use and consistent cybersecurity standards across government, health authorities, universities, school divisions and municipalities. The regulations that will set out its specific requirements are still being developed, with public consultation to follow. What the Act establishes now is a direction: Manitoba's public sector will be expected to demonstrate how AI is used, governed and secured.
That legislative step follows a period of structural investment. The province created a Department of Innovation and New Technology, and Budget 2026 provided $69.8 million in new authority for enterprise resource planning and other information technology programs, supporting the transition from Manitoba's existing SAP system to SAP S/4HANA as its next-generation financial and payroll platform. Together, these moves describe a government building the institutional scaffolding for digital transformation to operate at scale, including legislation, a dedicated department and funded capital programs.
Manitoba has also already put that ambition in front of citizens. In January, the province launched its Digital Wallet, letting residents store a digital health card on their phone, with plans to expand to other documents such as licences. It builds directly on the province's earlier digital vaccine card and on continued work to modernize the province's e-licensing platform. These are services Manitobans are already using, not concepts still on the drawing board.
Turning legislation into practice
Legislation and infrastructure investment set direction, but they are only the first part of the story. Organizations stand to benefit most from Manitoba's new AI and cybersecurity framework when they design AI adoption to meet its expectations from the outset, with governance, accountability and cybersecurity built in from the start, rather than adding compliance to systems already in production. Approached this way, the framework can help organizations establish the governance, accountability and security foundations needed to scale AI responsibly.
The same principle applies to the province's broader technology agenda. As Manitoba modernizes core systems like its enterprise resource planning and financial platforms, the opportunity is to treat governance, security and citizen trust as part of the initial design, creating a foundation that makes the next investment easier to build on.
Proof points citizens can already see
The province’s e-licensing modernization work is one example of how Manitoba is making digital government more tangible for citizens. It demonstrates how services can be designed to be voluntary, give people greater control over what they share, and expand gradually as trust grows. These principles offer a useful model for future citizen-facing services: demonstrate practical value, give users meaningful choice and build trust as adoption grows.
Applied AI, built for responsible scale
Across Manitoba's public sector, some of the most promising AI applications are practical ones: automating routine work, supporting employees, preserving institutional knowledge as experienced staff move into new roles, and improving how citizens access services. Manitoba's new legislation establishes a clear direction for these efforts: AI that is transparent in how it is used, governed with clear accountability, and secured to a consistent standard.
Importantly, governance does not have to be a barrier to AI adoption. Establishing clear approaches to data, accountability, security, human oversight and monitoring can make it easier to move successful AI use cases beyond experimentation and into responsible use at scale. Rather than addressing these questions independently for every new application, organizations can build reusable governance and security foundations that support future adoption.
CGI's 2026 Voice of Our Clients research shows that these priorities are shared more broadly across the country: 65 percent of Canadian organizations surveyed cite security and cyber-risk mitigation as a key cloud objective, and 51 percent cite data sovereignty and localization. For public-sector organizations, addressing these considerations early can help create the trusted digital foundation on which AI and other emerging technologies can grow.
Building capacity close to home
Large-scale modernization also depends on access to local expertise and an understanding of the environment in which change is taking place. Local knowledge matters, particularly when transformation touches established processes, legacy systems and services that Manitobans rely on every day.
Looking ahead
Manitoba has spent the past year building the structure behind its digital government agenda: legislation that establishes direction for AI and cybersecurity, a department dedicated to driving the agenda, funded investment in core systems, and new digital services already reaching residents.
The next phase will be about turning that momentum into repeatable execution. That means translating emerging governance expectations into practical controls, modernizing core platforms as foundations for future services, and ensuring that new technology delivers outcomes citizens can see and trust. Done well, governance, modernization and citizen experience reinforce one another, making it easier to introduce future services securely and responsibly at scale.
