QueerTech Evolves Its Mission and Launches National QT Inclusive AI Initiative

Montréal, QC - March 11, 2026 | Today, Canadian nonprofit QueerTech announced the launch of QT Inclusive AI - a national initiative designed to help ensure artificial intelligence is developed responsibly and helps shape a future where technology strengthens equity, rather than undermines it. 

The launch marks an important evolution in QueerTech’s work across the ecosystem. For the past decade, QueerTech has advanced 2SLGBTQI+ participation and leadership across Canada’s technology sector, supporting professionals and founders at every stage of their journey. Through its programs and partnerships, the organization helps build pathways into tech careers, advances leaders, supports founders launching and scaling companies, and advocates for more equitable workplaces across the industry.

As exponential technologies become embedded in everyday life and increasingly influence economic opportunity and social outcomes, the need for responsible and inclusive AI development has become critical. Without intentional action, technology quickly comes to serve those who build it. Without diverse perspectives or intentional action, automated systems are capable of hardwiring blind spots, hard-coding bias, and amplifying existing inequalities at unprecedented speed and scale. QT Inclusive AI is designed to address these challenges directly, advancing a more inclusive and accountable approach across the AI product lifecycle. The initiative supports better outcomes for communities while strengthening the quality, trust, and effectiveness of the systems our economy relies on.

Through this initiative, QueerTech will continue its work advocating for equitable workplaces and improved outcomes for 2SLGBTQI+ tech professionals, while expanding its focus to include responsible technology across Canada. The QT Inclusive AI Initiative exists to address and positively contribute to two interconnected areas of national concern:

1. Canada cannot afford the cost of inefficient, fragmented and under-operationalized technology products or systems. Inclusive development is innovative development; directly equating to improved international competitiveness, workforce resilience, and equitable prosperity.
   
   
2. If technology isn’t safe for everyone, it isn’t safe. Public safety, trust, and agency are all at risk if these systems continue to make decisions and determinations for Canadians. Underrepresented communities will feel the harm of exclusive tech first, but the general population won’t be far behind. For exponentially powerful systems built to drive profit, there’s little incentive to prevent harm or exploitation. 
   
   

“Competitive economies require inclusive innovation,” said Naoufel Testaouni, CEO of QueerTech. “Technology sits at the heart of our economy. If we want an economy that works for everyone, we must ensure the technologies shaping it are built with broader perspectives and fewer blind spots.”

Building Inclusive AI For Canada’s Innovation Economy

QT Inclusive AI serves as the strategic foundation guiding QueerTech’s research, industry programming, and national collaboration around responsible technology.

QT Inclusive AI will provide practical tools, learning opportunities, and collaborative spaces to help organizations build more responsible AI systems.

Key components include:

• AI readiness assessments to evaluate organizational maturity and governance practices
• Training programs on algorithmic bias and responsible development
• Industry dialogues connecting professionals, researchers, and communities
• Open toolkits and resources that help organizations operationalize inclusive AI practices
• Communities of practice that support benchmarking, knowledge sharing, and adoption across the sector

QT Inclusive AI aims to engage more than 4,000 people across Canada through its programming, with a strong focus on both corporate leaders and community members involved in shaping the future of technology.

By strengthening inclusion across both the workforce and the technologies being built, the initiative supports a broader vision: a more innovative, competitive, and equitable Canadian economy.

Visit the QT Inclusive AI webpage to learn more.

For media inquiries, please contact media@queertech.org 

About QueerTech

QueerTech is a national nonprofit advancing 2SLGBTQI+ talent, entrepreneurship, and inclusive technology across Canada’s tech ecosystem. Through community-led programming, original research, strategic partnerships, and actionable inclusion tools, QueerTech builds pathways into tech and helps shape a more responsible and equitable technology industry. The organization is also a national leader in responsible technology advocacy and progressive 2SLGBTQI+ equity and inclusion policy facilitation.