Half of Canadian businesses aren’t buying the AI story

AI has had two years to work its way into Canadian business plans. More than half still don’t plan to use it.

Statistics Canada’s final Canadian Survey on Business Conditions found 52.7% of businesses have no plans to use AI over the next year.

StatCan released the third-quarter 2026 results on Monday. One-quarter of Canadian businesses now say they plan to use AI over the next 12 months, up from 14.5% a year ago and 10.6% two years ago. The share planning to use AI has more than doubled since 2024.

Among businesses with no plans to use AI, 79.1% told StatCan they feel “AI is not relevant to the goods they produce or services they deliver.”

Privacy or security concerns came in at 10.8%, and lack of knowledge about AI’s capabilities at 9.9%.

The ‘no-plans’ share has dropped from 71.8% in 2024 to 66.7% last year to 52.7% this year, meaning it’s down 19.1 percentage points in two years.

Put these stats next to what Canadian technology leaders have been hearing from AI conference stages and consulting decks for the same period. Much of that conversation has moved to deployment, budgets, and production. 

Many Canadian businesses are still answering an earlier question. Where does AI fit in the work we do?

A BDO Canada survey in June found a similar skepticism from business leaders. Of 520 Canadian business leaders polled, about a quarter said they expect AI to have minimal impact on their organization over the next four years.

Elsewhere in the StatCan survey, 2.7% of businesses reported theft of sensitive business data over the past 12 months.

Manufacturing reported data theft most often, at 5.7%, followed by accommodation and food services at 4.5%, and professional, scientific and technical services at 4.4%. 

Among businesses that experienced theft, 49.6% incurred financial losses, 47.6% reported operational disruptions, and 50.5% saw higher cybersecurity or security-related costs.

Statistics Canada says this is the final Canadian Survey on Business Conditions, closing out a quarterly series that has run since 2020. The release doesn’t identify a direct replacement.

Final shots

• Planned AI use rose to 25.2% from 14.5% a year ago, while the no-plans share fell from 66.7% to 52.7%.
• Among businesses with no AI plans, 79.1% say it isn’t relevant to the goods or services they provide.
• Among businesses hit by sensitive-data theft, 49.6% incurred financial losses, 47.6% had operational disruptions, and 50.5% saw security costs rise.