Only 16% of Canadian businesses are using artificial intelligence in their operations despite repeated federal claims that Canada is a global leader in the technology, according to a new report commissioned by the Privacy Commissioner.The 2026 Survey Of Canadian Businesses On Privacy-Related Issues found AI adoption among businesses rose from 6% to 16% in 2025, but researchers said overall usage remains limited and is largely confined to routine administrative tasks.“The proportion of business representatives reporting their company uses artificial intelligence for business operations increased from 6% to 16% in 2025 though overall levels remain low,” the report stated.Blacklock's Reporter said among businesses that have adopted AI, the most common use is research and document drafting, cited by 45% of respondents. Another 24% use AI for marketing, while 18% use it for text or data analysis and 15% use it for customer service applications such as chatbots.Use of AI for more advanced business functions was uncommon.The survey found 7% of AI users employ the technology for forecasting trends or customer behaviour, 5% for human resources functions, 4% for video or image analysis, and 3% for recruitment or quality control. Only 2% reported using AI for supply-chain optimization, while just 1% used it for fraud detection.Researchers based their findings on interviews with 800 business operators across Canada. The Privacy Commissioner spent $77,744 on the study, which was conducted by Ottawa-based polling firm Phoenix Strategic Perspectives.The findings contrast with statements made by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who last October described Canada as one of the world's leading AI nations.“There are three countries on Earth right now that really are competitive in artificial intelligence,” Joly said on Oct. 16. “You know what? Canada is part of that.”Joly attributed Canada's position to decades of government support and spending on AI research and development.“Adoption will be about our productivity and our competitiveness,” she said. “Artificial intelligence will be in everything.”.At the same time, public-sector organizations and unions have reported job losses linked to AI adoption.In a March 5 submission to the Senate social affairs committee, the Canadian Union of Public Employees said tasks including menu planning in nursing homes, medical transcription and television closed captioning have already been automated.“CUPE is already seeing job loss amongst workers in certain sectors and job classifications,” the union wrote.Federal agencies are also examining the impact of AI on government operations.On Jan. 8, the Meteorological Service of Canada announced it was testing the use of generative AI to replace translators who rewrite weather bulletins in French and English.According to a departmental notice, weather alerts often contain free-form text written by meteorologists that must be translated into Canada's other official language before publication. Officials said they were evaluating a generative AI translation tool designed specifically for meteorological terminology.
