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AI Assistant for Government Productivity and Knowledge Work

Employment & Work · Inform

What it collects that can identify you

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Enterprise content from SharePoint, Outlook, and OneDrive may include emails, documents, and calendar entries referencing named individuals, including both employees and members of the public.

Also collects operational data, which is anonymized data.

Run by
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Retained Not specified in the register entry
Shared with
Accountable organization, Vendor

What it is for

Employment & WorkInform

This system integrates generative AI into everyday office tools — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and other Microsoft 365 applications — to help federal employees draft documents, create presentations, analyse data, and manage email. It is being trialled on a limited basis by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to explore efficiency gains for knowledge workers. The system processes enterprise content including files and email, which may contain personal information. Users are informed that AI is in use.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Enterprise content from SharePoint, Outlook, and OneDrive may include emails, documents, and calendar entries referencing named individuals, including both employees and members of the public.
Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Non-personal enterprise files, documents, presentations, and spreadsheets stored on SharePoint and OneDrive used to ground AI responses and assist with data analysis tasks.

Processing

Language Models
  • Microsoft large language models power the generative and semantic capabilities of M365 Copilot, processing user prompts and enterprise content to produce text, summaries, and analytical outputs.
Search & Retrieval
  • Retrieves relevant enterprise content from SharePoint, Outlook, and OneDrive to provide contextually grounded responses and suggestions to users.

What it does

Creating (Generative AI)
Human decides
  • Generates text, summaries, presentations, and data analysis outputs in response to user prompts within Microsoft 365 applications. Humans review and decide whether to use, edit, or discard the generated content.
Understanding (Semantic AI)
Human decides
  • Understands user intent and retrieves relevant context from enterprise content (SharePoint, Outlook, OneDrive) to ground generated responses. Humans initiate queries and decide how to act on retrieved information.
Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • Analyses structured data within Excel and other Microsoft 365 apps, producing summaries, patterns, and insights. All analysis outputs are advisory; employees decide how to interpret and use results.

Outputs

Generated content
Anonymized data
  • Produces drafted documents, email replies, presentation slides, summaries, and data analysis outputs in response to user prompts. Content is created for the requesting employee's use and is not automatically shared.
A recommendation or prediction
Anonymized data
  • Provides suggestions, insights, and recommendations based on analysed data and retrieved enterprise content. These outputs are advisory and require human review before action is taken.

Run by

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
  • Federal department trialling M365 Copilot on a limited basis to improve efficiency for knowledge workers.

GC AI Register — 2526-ISED-ISDE-003

Built by

Microsoft
  • Microsoft builds and supplies M365 Copilot, providing the underlying large language models and the Microsoft 365 platform on which the system operates.

GC AI Register — 2526-ISED-ISDE-003

Kept for

Retained Not specified in the register entry
  • The register does not specify retention periods. Data retention would be governed by Microsoft's enterprise data processing agreements and applicable Government of Canada retention policies.
  • Duration: Not specified in the register entry

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • Outputs and logs generated by M365 Copilot are available to ISED as the deploying department, subject to Microsoft's enterprise data governance terms.
Available to vendor
  • Microsoft, as the technology provider, may have access to usage data and prompts processed through the service in accordance with its enterprise licensing and data processing agreements.

Stored

Stored on 3rd Party Cloud
  • Enterprise content processed by M365 Copilot is hosted on Microsoft's cloud infrastructure (Azure), which provides the underlying compute and storage for the Microsoft 365 platform.
  • Duration: Not specified in the register entry
How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseAI use is disclosed to users. Government of Canada employees using M365 Copilot are informed that generative AI is integrated into their Microsoft 365 applications.
  • Right to Purpose LimitationThe pilot is scoped to improving efficiency and supporting knowledge work within Microsoft 365 applications. Use of enterprise content is limited to the stated objectives of drafting, summarisation, data analysis, and email management.

Risks and safeguards

  • Societal & cultural harmOverreliance on AI-generated content by government knowledge workers may erode critical thinking and the quality of official communications, and may produce inaccurate or hallucinated content passed into official documents.Safeguard: The system is deployed on a limited pilot basis with human review expected before any output is used; employees are informed AI is in use, creating awareness of the need to verify outputs.
  • Psychological harmEmployees may feel their professional judgment and skills are being surveilled, devalued, or replaced through AI-assisted productivity monitoring and content generation.Safeguard: The pilot is framed as an assistive tool to support knowledge work, not to evaluate or replace employees; participation is limited in scope, and AI use is transparent to users.