Background and aims: While Artificial Intelligence (AI) guidelines are available in jurisdictions in Canada and internationally, most focus on general AI use and/or use in health care. The Mental Health and Substance Use Health (MHSUH) communities are seeking specific guidance tailored to these fields. Two national organizations, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), are partnering to complete research on this topic by September 2025 and disseminate knowledge. The objectives are to: • Address gaps in the use of AI in MHSUH. • Investigate the specific AI guidance required in MHSUH. • Recommend initial guidance and priorities for safe, ethical, quality, effective, and human-centred implementation of AI in MHSUH care in Canada. Methods: Guidance will be developed based on a literature review, environmental scan, and an international collaborator map, including consultations with Canadian and international experts. We are convening an advisory committee of diverse individuals, including MHSUH care providers, people with lived and living experience, individuals from equity deserving communities (i.e., racialized communities, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ2S+), and technological organizations, to inform and shape the development of the guidance and priorities. Our lived expertise partners are engaged throughout the process to co-design and consult. Results: Initial feedback from the community indicates a need for guidance encompassing bias, health equity, workforce burnout, clinician expertise, transparency, data and privacy, and a human-centered approach to technology with lived experience involvement. These gaps will be explored in the research, and findings will inform recommendations for ethical AI guidance. Our national advisory committee plays a crucial role throughout the process, including informing and validating the findings and shaping the guidance and priorities. Conclusions: Since there is no available guidance on AI use in MHSUH, the findings help fill these gaps in the literature and promote the ethical, culturally safe, and socially responsible use of technology in MHSUH care broadly. Through shared knowledge of the guidance in Canada and internationally, AI solutions may be improved for MHSUH care.