About CALT
What is CALT?
The Canadian AI Legal Tracker (CALT) is a structured database of Canadian court cases and legal proceedings involving artificial intelligence. It is operated by Horizon Omega, a Canadian not-for-profit focused on reducing AI risks.
CALT aims to make Canada's emerging AI caselaw accessible and navigable for researchers, lawyers, policymakers, and journalists. Each case entry includes structured metadata — court, jurisdiction, category, parties, outcome — alongside a narrative analysis of how AI figured in the proceedings.
AI scope definition
CALT uses the same strict AI definition as the Canadian AI Incident Monitor (CAIM): a system qualifies as "AI" if it relies on machine learning, neural networks, or foundation models (including large language models, diffusion models, and similar architectures).
Cases involving algorithmic decision-making systems (ADS) — rule-based scoring, automated workflows, or statistical models that do not meet the ML/neural threshold — are included in CALT but flagged with a distinct ADS badge. This allows users to filter by the stricter AI definition while preserving the broader picture of algorithmic harms in Canadian courts.
Inclusion criteria
A case is included if it meets one or more of the following criteria:
- AI as subject: The court directly considers the nature, capabilities, or risks of an AI system (e.g., hallucinated citations, AI-generated evidence).
- AI as cause: An AI system's output or behaviour is a material cause of the legal dispute (e.g., algorithmic decision-making causing harm).
- AI misuse in legal process: A party uses AI tools improperly in the course of litigation (e.g., submitting AI-generated legal briefs without verification).
- AI precedent-setting: The decision sets a precedent relevant to future AI regulation or liability, even if AI is not the central issue.
Exclusions
- Passing mentions of AI with no material bearing on the case.
- General software disputes not involving machine learning or algorithmic decision-making.
- Complaints or investigations with no formal legal proceeding.
- Foreign cases (CALT tracks Canadian proceedings only).
Proceeding types
CALT tracks several types of legal proceedings, each tagged accordingly:
- Judgment: A decided court case with a published decision.
- Tribunal ruling: A decision by an administrative tribunal (e.g., BCCRT, Human Rights Tribunal).
- Judicial review: A court reviewing an administrative decision (e.g., privacy commissioner order).
- Active litigation: A filed case that has not yet reached a final decision.
- Regulatory proceeding: An action by a regulator that has produced a formal published decision or order.
Data sources and discovery
Cases are identified through weekly monitoring of:
- CanLII — primary source for published decisions. Searched using terms including: "artificial intelligence", "AI", "ChatGPT", "generative", "algorithmic decision", "machine learning", "large language model".
- Law firm analyses from Blakes, Osler, McCarthy Tétrault, Cassels, Bennett Jones, McMillan, Gowling WLG, and others who publish Canadian AI case commentaries.
- Slaw.ca and other Canadian legal commentary.
Temporal scope
CALT covers Canadian AI legal proceedings from 2024 onward, which is when domestic AI litigation began in earnest. Earlier proceedings may be added if they are identified as relevant.
Update frequency and curation
CALT is updated weekly. New cases are discovered through the sources listed above, triaged against the inclusion criteria, and entered with structured metadata and a neutral summary. Curation is performed by Horizon Omega. CALT does not issue legal opinions or recommendations; entries describe proceedings as documented in published decisions and court records.
Error correction
If you identify an error in a CALT entry — an incorrect citation, a mischaracterized outcome, or a missing case — please contact us. Corrections are applied promptly and noted in the record's update history.
How to cite
To cite a CALT entry: "[Case Name]", Canadian AI Legal Tracker (CALT), Horizon Omega, [URL], accessed [date].
Current status
CALT is in pilot phase (launched March 2026). The dataset is preliminary and actively being expanded. If you know of a Canadian case involving AI that should be tracked, or if you spot an error, please get in touch.