CMDC AI COUNCIL INITIATIVE

Driving Innovation with Integrity: Responsible AI in Canadian Media

Artificial intelligence is a powerful accelerator of growth. Projected to unlock a $230 billion economic opportunity in Canada, AI is reshaping technology, media, marketing and Canadian business. By 2031, this transformation is targeted to create 250,000 high-value jobs across the country.

To lead this growth responsibly, the CMDC AI Council has established definitive Principles for Responsible AI in Advertising. This framework gives agencies, brand marketers, and media partners the operational clarity to scale AI while safeguarding public trust, data privacy, and a healthy ecosystem in Canada.

$230B

Projected GDP growth impact across
Canada's economy by 2030

170,000+

New high-value jobs anticipated across media, tech, and creative sectors

Industry-wide standards

Establishing responsible AI governance for the Canadian media industry

RResponsible AI Into Action.

Take the Responsible AI Pledge →

CMDC AI Principles →

AI Council →

THE 4 Principles OF RESPONSIBLE AI

1

- Client-Agency Alignment: Maintain mutual transparency regarding AI tool usage. Advertisers and agencies should not include AI-generated content in materials provided to each other without mutual agreement.
- Public Confidence: Never deploy AI in ways that undermine public trust in advertising, such as through undisclosed deepfakes, fake, scam, or otherwise fraudulent advertising.
- Risk-Proportional Disclosure: Adopt a proportionate, risk-based approach to AI regulation and disclosure. Ensure transparency when AI features prominently in an ad and is unlikely to be obvious to consumers. Drawing on the IAB AI Transparency and Disclosure Framework, consumer-facing labels (e.g., watermarks or metadata for synthetically generated content) are only mandated when AI materially affects authenticity, identity, or representation. Back-office tools do not require consumer labeling.
- Procurement Transparency: Maintain mutual transparency during the pitch and RFP process. If AI tools are used to pre-screen submissions or summarize agency pitch materials, this must be disclosed to all participating agencies upfront

2

- Mandatory Human Oversight: Ensure appropriate human oversight and accountability in the use of AI. This includes fact and permission-checking so that AI-generated output is not used without adequate clearance and accuracy assurances.
- Privacy & Data Security: Incorporate privacy design principles and safeguard sensitive consumer data fed into AI systems. Guarantee strict adherence to Canadian laws, preparing for frameworks like Bill C-27 (the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act), which mandates assessing and mitigating risks of high-impact systems.
- Rigorous Due Diligence: Perform appropriate due diligence on vendor AI tools and only use AI when confident it is safe and secure. Regularly assess tools to ensure they avoid creating or reinforcing unfair bias against individuals or particular groups in society.

3

- Talent Augmentation: Consider the potential impact of AI on employment and talent. AI should be deployed as an additive enabler, helping rather than replacing people in the industry.
- Ethical Integrity & Social Benefit: AI applications should be socially beneficial and tested for safety. Continually monitor and evaluate AI use for negative impacts, ensuring applications adhere to the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.

4

- IP Respect & Publisher Sustainability: Consider the impact of AI on intellectual property rights holders and support the sustainability of publishers and other content creators. Align with IAB Tech Lab initiatives, such as the Content Monetization Protocols (CoMP), to ensure fair content monetization and give publishers control over how AI models scrape their data.
- Programmatic Quality: Guard against AI abuses in programmatic channels, such as the large-scale creation of poor-quality clickbait on Made for Advertising (MFA) sites. Apply identical care to AI algorithms deciding to whom online ads are served, protecting media budgets from low-quality environments.
- Environmental Stewardship: Consider the potential environmental impact and energy footprint when using generative AI.

The CMDC Responsible AI Pledge

The Responsible AI Pledge is an official industry-wide advocacy pledge dedicated to creating a safer, more transparent media ecosystem for everyone. Open to agencies, brand marketers, media owners, and technology partners alike, signing this pledge demonstrates your leadership's verified commitment to the framework, driving shared governance, brand safety, and data security across the entire Canadian advertising landscape.

The CMDC AI Council brings together senior leaders from across Canada’s media agencies. Our mission is to provide proactive self-regulation, operational clarity, and ethical leadership in an increasingly complex media ecosystem.

Meet the AI Council

By translating global best practices and aligning with federal data strategies, the CMDC establishes actionable guidance that balances agency innovation with consumer protection, brand safety, and industry growth and sustainability.