About Us
SIAI Canada Overview
Why a Canadian Branch?
SIAI-CA is the Canadian 'on-ramp' for supporters of SIAI. We exist to facilitate Canadians in supporting the charitable objectives of SIAI. We do this in two ways: tax relief and oversight.
Tax Relief: For the first few years SIAI operated only within the United States. As a non-profit SIAI issues receipts to donors who can then obtain tax relief. This is a huge benefit for both donors and SIAI. The donors get a tax break and the money helps a tightly focused organization rather than disappearing in to the general account of a government. This benefit was not available to Canadians as Canadian law recognizes very few non-Canadian organizations as "qualified donees". We have organized SIAI-CA to provide a means by which Canadians can obtain this tax relief benefit when they donate to SIAI-CA, and by doing so support our mutual objectives.
Oversight: It is a fact that some people prefer to deal with an organization based in their own country. There are many good reasons given for this preference, the most common being legal protection and partisanship. When dealing with a local organization there is often greater legal protection and accountability. This is true in Canada and many other countries. As a designated Charitable Organization SIAI-CA's financial reports are public and posted to the Canada Revenue Agency's website annually. The operations of the Association are closely managed by a board composed of Canadian citizens who are accountable to the Association membership. Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident can become a member of SIAI-CA and we encourage people to find out more; come join us! Many Canadians are proud of their citizenship and enjoy interacting with other Canadians. This family feeling between people of every province is positive and inclusive. SIAI-CA will serve as a focus for all Canadians to help support the larger, global effort.
Who belongs to SIAI-CA?
The organization started with five people who formed the board of directors. We hope that many more will join us and contribute their energy and ideas toward a positive Singularity result. Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident can become a member of SIAI-CA. See our join page for more information on how to become a member.
What is the Canadian Association?
We are a Charitable Organization as designated by the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency. Quoting from our Constitution:
"The purpose of the society is to advance education and undertake research in artificial intelligence in order to promote the Singularity, to the benefit of all humanity."
You can read our constitution and bylaws, or go to SIAI's main site for more accessible material.
When did we start?
The SIAI Canada Association was founded in 2004 as a registered Charity in the province of British Columbia. Our official incorporation date is May 27th, 2004. We applied for registration as a charity under the federal government's Income Tax Act and received approval in January 2005.
Where are we located?
Our official address is 65 Government Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 2K5, Canada. This is a private home, not an office or rented space. We keep our expenses to an absolute minimum so that a very high percentage of donations go to supporting research and not to administration costs.