The $125 million in AI funding, announced in last week's federal budget, is aimed at supporting existing AI institutes in Toronto, Edmonton and Montreal, establishing so-called "deep learning" research chairs at universities across the country, setting up a national training program and fostering collaborations with industry, he added.

Also Thursday, Finance Minister Bill Morneau paid a visit to the Vector Institute, a burgeoning facility in Toronto that's widely pegged as the new international hub for AI innovation.

Trudeau was asked about how Canada's social safety net might need to change in order to support workers as they make the shift from the traditional workforce to high-tech, high-demand jobs.

His answer — get more younger kids learning to write code; push university students towards degrees in deep learning and AI; provide incentives for workers to go back to school and encourage companies to innovate and invest in technology — implied the shift would not be easy.

"There are going to be challenges," Trudeau said.

"The choice we have to make as a country is: Do we resist it and try to hide from it, or do we engage in it? ... I have tremendous confidence in Canadians — hard-working, value-driven, innovative, well-educated, excited — and our capacity to give them the tools to be successful (that) they're asking for."

In recent months, the federal and Ontario governments have actively discussed major investments in the big automakers. Last December, one auto union leader estimated the combined public investments could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.

After the conclusion of labour negotiations last year, the auto companies launched talks with Ontario and Ottawa about investing in an industry critical to both economies. The automotive sector employs about 125,000 people in assembly and parts production.

Last week's federal budget proposed to consolidate several "business innovation" programs, including the Automotive Innovation Fund and the Automotive Supplier Innovation program. Both offer "non-repayable contributions" for the auto sector.

Earlier this year, Ottawa made changes to its Automotive Innovation Fund that enabled the government to provide grants to car companies. Before the changes, the program offered loans.

In its budget, the feds proposed to roll the two auto programs under a new, broader umbrella called the Strategic Innovation Fund, which will allocate $1.26 billion over five years.

Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, who also attended the Windsor announcement, has said the feds are open to helping the automakers expand their footprints in Canada.

He has indicated a particular interest in investments that would support the more technologically advanced and research-focused areas of the auto industry.

Bains, in charge of overseeing Ottawa's "innovation agenda," has also said the government wants to make sure Canada is on the "cutting edge of the car of the future."

Last year, the three largest North American automakers committed to pump more than $1 billion combined into their Canadian operations following contract talks with their unionized workers.

Ford has said it would invest about $700 million at its Ontario facilities.

By Jessica Smith Cross and Aleksandra Sagan, The Canadian Press