The Manitoba government hosted its first Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education Summit on January 16, 2026, in Winnipeg. The summit — announced by Premier Wab Kinew and Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt — brought together K–12 and post‑secondary leaders to begin developing a provincewide framework for integrating AI tools into classrooms.
Manitoba Education says it is developing “Guiding Principles on AI in Education” to support high‑quality teaching and learning. The news release says those principles “will be developed in consultation with educators, school divisions, Indigenous partners and education stakeholders across Manitoba,” but it does not name specific local education authorities. It is not confirmed in public sources whether the St. Theresa Point Education Authority was specifically invited to the summit or will be directly consulted; that should be verified with the authority before naming them as a confirmed participant.
A key concern for remote northern schools is internet capacity. The Assembly of First Nations has reported that many First Nations communities lack adequate high‑speed internet—its Closing the Infrastructure Gap summary finds that 61% of the 748 communities studied did not have adequate service as of the report. Those connectivity gaps could limit the ability of remote communities (including St. Theresa Point, a fly‑in community northeast of Winnipeg) to run bandwidth‑heavy AI tools.
The province has also engaged Tom D’Amico of AI Leadership Consulting to deliver a five‑part AI leadership webinar series and provide coaching for school superintendents to build system readiness. The news release links these capacity‑building efforts to preparing students for future careers in sectors such as health, trades and agriculture. However, the release does not announce specific funding for broadband upgrades, hardware or localized tech support for remote schools—issues that stakeholders say will be critical if AI tools are to be used equitably across the province.
