Between April 2025 and mid-2026, AI in education moved from scattered classroom experiments to written policy in both countries. In the United States, a presidential order dated April 23, 2025 (Executive Order 14277) created a federal task force on AI education, and a Department of Education grant priority on advancing AI took effect on May 13, 2026. In Canada, guidance comes from individual provinces: British Columbia's ministry publishes a human-centered toolkit, and Québec's ministry updated its guide for teachers in 2026.
Key takeaways
- Executive Order 14277 (April 23, 2025) set up a White House Task Force on AI Education and a Presidential AI Challenge, and it creates no enforceable rights.
- The Department of Education's AI priority is a grant-making tool. It does not oblige any school to adopt AI.
- British Columbia and Québec both frame AI as a complement to teachers, with decisions left to educators and local policy.
- Pew Research found that 54 percent of U.S. teens had used chatbots for schoolwork help, based on a fall 2025 survey.
- None of the policy documents reviewed reports learning outcomes, so evidence of benefit lags behind adoption.
What the U.S. federal government has put in place
Executive Order 14277 set up a White House Task Force on AI Education, led by the head of the president's science and technology policy office. It also called for a Presidential AI Challenge, for Education Department guidance on using grant funds for AI-based instruction and tutoring, and for AI to be a priority in teacher-training grants. The order states that it is subject to applicable law and appropriations and creates no enforceable rights.
The Department of Education followed with a final priority published in the Federal Register on April 13, 2026, effective May 13, 2026, after a proposal in July 2025 that drew comments from more than 300 parties. A priority lets the Secretary favor certain projects when running a grant competition, as an absolute, competitive preference, or invitational priority. It is not a regulation on schools.
The priority has two halves. One expands understanding of AI: AI literacy in teaching, age-appropriate AI and computer science courses in K-12, and professional development for educators. The other expands what the notice calls appropriate and ethical use of AI: support for students who are below grade level or gifted, students with disabilities, tutoring, college and career advising, and reducing administrative work. Its definition of AI literacy bundles four things: technical knowledge, lasting skills, awareness of civic life, and attitudes, all needed to engage with, create with, manage, and design AI while critically evaluating its benefits and risks. One component asks for training that considers developmental readiness and student safety when K-12 tools are chosen.
What Canadian provinces are publishing
British Columbia's Ministry of Education and Child Care, on a page last updated on July 18, 2024, states that responsible AI use in K-12 requires a human-centered approach, that AI tools should be viewed as complements to human processes, and that choices about classroom use are ultimately made by teachers. The package includes a document on considerations for school districts, a plain-language glossary, curriculum connections to Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies and Career Education, student posters, and information for parents.
Québec's Ministry of Education published a 22-page 2026 update of its guide to the pedagogical, ethical, and legal use of generative AI, first issued in 2024. It is addressed to teaching staff from preschool through secondary school, vocational training, and adult education. The guide proposes three criteria: pedagogical relevance, ethical principles, and legal obligations. For relevance it recommends reflecting before, during, and after each use, and it advises choosing tools designed for learning to avoid dependence. The ministry says the content will be adapted as laws, research, and school practices change.
Trends and the strength of the evidence behind them
The table separates what is written down from what has been measured. The last column is a judgment based on the documents cited, not a rating from any of them.
| Trend | Where it appears | What the sources show |
|---|---|---|
| AI literacy as a school goal | U.S. grant priority; B.C. curriculum connections | Stated goals and definitions, no outcome data |
| Teacher-led, human-centered use | B.C. ministry page; Québec guide | Guidance principle, not a rule |
| Tutoring and personalization | U.S. priority examples; Québec guide mentions adaptive tutoring | Listed as eligible or possible uses |
| Student chatbot use | Pew Research Center teen surveys | Self-reported usage, rising between surveys |
| Tool approval at the local level | Québec guide: check that a system is authorized by the school organization | Procedure left to each school body |
How much students already use chatbots
Pew Research Center's January 2025 report on a fall 2024 survey found that 26 percent of U.S. teens had used ChatGPT for schoolwork, up from 13 percent in 2023. A later Pew report, "How Teens Use and View AI," published February 24, 2026, surveyed 1,458 teens and their parents from September 25 to October 9, 2025. It found that 54 percent of teens had used chatbots for help with schoolwork, and that about one in ten said they do all or most of their schoolwork with chatbot help. The two surveys asked about different things, one product and then chatbots in general, so the jump from 26 to 54 percent overstates the change.
The 2026 report also found that 59 percent of teens think AI cheating happens at least somewhat often at their school. That figure measures perception, not documented misconduct.
What the documents do not settle
Most of the material is guidance and funding policy. It sets goals such as AI literacy and teacher training, but it does not report whether students learn more, and the grant priority does not name specific tools. The documents reviewed leave privacy mostly to existing law and local procedures. Readers comparing the two countries should note that the U.S. documents here are federal, while the Canadian ones are provincial, so they are not like-for-like.
FAQ
Does the U.S. AI priority require schools to use AI?
No. It is a supplemental priority for discretionary grant competitions and applies only where the Secretary chooses to use it. Schools that do not apply for such grants are unaffected.
Is there a single Canadian policy on AI in schools?
The guidance reviewed for this article is provincial. British Columbia and Québec each publish their own materials, and school boards add local procedures. No national framework was found in the sources checked.
What does the Department of Education mean by AI literacy?
The April 2026 notice defines it as the technical knowledge, durable skills, civic awareness, and attitudes needed to engage with, create with, manage, and design AI while critically evaluating its benefits, risks, and implications.
How many teens use AI for schoolwork?
In Pew's fall 2025 survey, 54 percent of U.S. teens reported using chatbots for schoolwork help. Comparable Canadian figures from a government statistical agency were not found for this article.
Related reading
- A decade of research on AI in special education
- The role of AI in education, from a research view
- How AI technology affects teaching and learning
- What makes an AI system trustworthy
More in AI in education.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Executive Order 14277, Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth, The White House, April 23, 2025
- Final Priority and Definitions: Secretary's Supplemental Priority and Definitions on Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Education, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Register, April 13, 2026
- Digital literacy and the use of AI in education: supports for British Columbia schools, Ministry of Education and Child Care, British Columbia, last updated July 18, 2024
- Guide pour une utilisation pédagogique, éthique et légale de l'intelligence artificielle générative, Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec, 2026
- About a quarter of U.S. teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork, Pew Research Center, January 15, 2025
- How Teens Use and View AI, Pew Research Center, February 24, 2026