AI Foundations for the Modern Workforce
Build the conceptual fluency every Canadian professional now needs
About this program
A comprehensive on-ramp into artificial intelligence designed for Canadians from every industry. Across six months you'll move from the history of machine learning through modern transformer-based systems, building working intuition for how today's models are trained, deployed, and governed. The program emphasizes responsible adoption under Canada's evolving regulatory landscape (PIPEDA, Bill C-27/AIDA) and equips graduates with a vocabulary and mental model robust enough to participate confidently in any AI conversation at work.
Student ratings
Outstanding — 440 verified Canadian graduates rated this program 4.9/5. Reviews emphasize the applied capstone, instructor responsiveness, and career outcomes.
- 5★416
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Who this program is for
- →Career changers exploring AI for the first time
- →Professionals who want practical literacy without a CS background
- →Canadian residents seeking a verifiable diploma credential
Topics you'll cover
6 modules across 6 months — 24 lessons in total.
Full syllabus
Module 1 · Month 1 — The AI Landscape▾
- L1A brief history: from symbolic AI to deep learning
- L2Narrow vs. general intelligence
- L3The Canadian AI ecosystem: Mila, Vector, Amii
- L4Mapping AI to business value
Module 2 · Month 2 — Data Literacy▾
- L1What 'data' actually is in an AI system
- L2Bias, sampling, and provenance
- L3Working with structured vs. unstructured data
- L4Hands-on: cleaning a real dataset
Module 3 · Month 3 — How Models Learn▾
- L1Loss, gradients, and training intuition
- L2Overfitting and generalization
- L3Evaluation metrics that matter
- L4Lab: training your first classifier in a notebook
Module 4 · Month 4 — Large Language Models▾
- L1Tokens, embeddings, attention
- L2Prompting as a skill
- L3Retrieval-augmented generation
- L4Hallucinations and grounding
Module 5 · Month 5 — Responsible AI in Canada▾
- L1PIPEDA essentials
- L2Bill C-27 and AIDA: what's coming
- L3Algorithmic Impact Assessments
- L4Indigenous data sovereignty (OCAP)
Module 6 · Month 6 — Capstone▾
- L1Scoping an AI initiative
- L2Building a no-code prototype
- L3Stakeholder communication
- L4Final presentation and peer review
What you'll be able to do
- ●Explain modern AI systems in plain language to executives and peers
- ●Distinguish supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning by use case
- ●Critically evaluate vendor claims about AI products
- ●Apply Canadian regulatory considerations to AI projects
- ●Design a small end-to-end AI workflow using no-code tooling
Career paths after graduation
Frequently asked questions
How much does the AI Foundations for the Modern Workforce cost?▾
Tuition is $125 CAD, paid once. You can pay in full at checkout or choose an interest-free monthly plan. A 30-day refund window applies from your enrollment date.
How long is the AI Foundations for the Modern Workforce program?▾
Self-paced. Most students complete it in 6 months at roughly 7 hours per week, but you can go faster or slower — you keep lifetime access.
What are the prerequisites?▾
High-school mathematics; Basic comfort with spreadsheets
Is the diploma recognized in Canada?▾
Yes. Graduates receive the Altaris AI Academy Diploma in Foundations — a verifiable credential with a unique certificate number you can publish on LinkedIn and that any employer can verify at altarisai.org/verify.
What is the refund policy?▾
Full refund within 30 days of enrollment, no questions asked. After day 30, prorated refunds are available per our Refund Policy.
Who teaches the program?▾
Working Canadian AI practitioners — not academics. Every module is built and reviewed by a lead instructor working in the field today.
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