Case study · Built in public
Ask Canada gives plain answers, and shows where they come from.
Ask about a federal service in plain English or French, then keep going with follow-ups. It answers only from official Canada.ca pages, from taxes and benefits to passports and immigration, cites the ones it used, and tells you when each was last updated.
Independent project. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Government of Canada.
- Status
- Public beta
- Languages
- English and French
- Built by
- Savabi, in Gatineau
The real thing
Real screenshots, real answers.
Captured from the working app. The question was simple: how do I renew my passport?
- 1
Numbered sources
Every fact carries a small number that points to the page it came from, with the department and the date that page last changed.
- 2
Jargon, explained
Government terms like NOA, ROE or T4 get a short plain-language definition when you hover or tap.
- 3
Clearly independent
A not-affiliated notice stays on screen, from the first question to the last follow-up.
How it works
Four steps, and no guessing.
Nothing magic. The assistant is only allowed to repeat what the official pages say, and to show its work.
01
It reads only official pages
About 1,700 Canada.ca pages, in English and French, across 12 topics, fees and IRCC processing times included. No forums, no news, and it's told never to answer from memory.
02
It finds the right passages
Your question is matched two ways, by meaning and by exact words, so “locked out” finds the sign-in help page even if the page never says “locked out”. Follow-ups are searched as full questions of their own.
03
It reads, then answers with sources
The best-matching pages are read in full, so a detail buried mid-page isn't missed. Every fact in the answer points to the page that states it. If the pages don't cover your question, it says so instead of guessing.
04
It shows how fresh each page is
Each source links straight to the official page and shows when it was last updated, so you can check before you act.
Checked on every change
About 200 fixed questions, in English and French, run through the assistant after every change, including ones it should decline or admit it can't answer. A stronger AI model then reads each answer against the full source pages and flags anything the pages don't actually say.
What it covers today
- Taxes and your CRA account
- Benefits
- Employment Insurance
- CPP and Old Age Security
- My Service Canada Account
- Passports
- Visas and eTA
- Studying
- Working
- Immigrating and PR cards
- Citizenship
- IRCC application status
What it won't do
- Guess when the pages don't say
- Give legal, tax or immigration advice
- Wander outside federal services
- Share opinions on politics
For organizations
Want this for your own documents?
The same pattern works for any library you trust. Your members or staff ask in plain words; the assistant answers only from your documents and shows which ones.
- Bylaws
- Policies
- Product manuals
- Member guides
- Procedures
- Collective agreements
- Members-only, behind your own sign-in
- English and French
- Every answer cites your documents
Ask Canada isn't for sale. We've built the same kind of assistant for a trade association's members, and we can build one around your documents.