Research · Statistics Canada data
Canada AI adoption tracker
19.2% of businesses in Canada used artificial intelligence to produce goods or deliver services in the 12 months before Statistics Canada's second-quarter 2026 survey (collected April 1 to May 6, 2026), up from 12.2% in 2025 and 6.1% in 2024. In the third quarter of 2026, 25.2% of businesses said they plan to use AI over the next 12 months. Information and cultural industries (42.3%) and finance and insurance (40.4%) lead adoption.
- Last updated
- First published
- Update cadence
- Quarterly — checked against each new Canadian Survey on Business Conditions release
- Data
- Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Business Conditions
- Compiled by
- Innovation Trigger Lab
Key figures
19.2%
of businesses used AI in the last 12 months (Q2 2026)
6.1% in Q2 2024
25.2%
plan to use AI over the next 12 months (Q3 2026)
10.6% in Q3 2024
42.3%
of businesses in information and cultural industries use AI, the highest sector (Q2 2026)
Lowest: agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting at 4.5%
36.6%
of AI-using businesses apply it to data analytics, the top use
Urban 21.0% vs rural 9.9% adoption
AI adoption over time
- Used AI (Q2)
- Plan to use AI (Q3)
2024
- Used AI (Q2)6.1%
- Plan to use AI (Q3)10.6%
2025
- Used AI (Q2)12.2%
- Plan to use AI (Q3)14.5%
2026
- Used AI (Q2)19.2%
- Plan to use AI (Q3)25.2%
| Survey year | Used AI (Q2) | Plan to use AI (Q3) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 6.1%A | 10.6% |
| 2025 | 12.2%A | 14.5% |
| 2026 | 19.2%A | 25.2% |
Same data as the chart. Sources: Statistics Canada tables 33-10-0825-01, 33-10-1004-01, 33-10-1167-01 and the Q3 2026 planned-use analysis.
AI adoption by industry
Use is concentrated in knowledge-intensive sectors. Information and cultural industries (42.3%), Finance and insurance (40.4%) and Professional, scientific and technical services (32.4%) led in Q2 2026. Rows are sorted by 2026 use.
| Industry (NAICS) | Used, Q2 2024 | Used, Q2 2025 | Used, Q2 2026 | Plan to use, Q3 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information and cultural industries [51] | 20.9%B | 35.6%C | 42.3%B | 48.0% |
| Finance and insurance [52] | 10.9%B | 30.6%B | 40.4%C | 35.5% |
| Professional, scientific and technical services [54] | 13.7%B | 31.7%B | 32.4%B | 54.8% |
| Health care and social assistance [62] | 5.9%A | 17.4%B | 30.0%B | 33.8% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation [71] | 7.7%A | 14.0%B | 25.3%B | 24.5% |
| Retail trade [44-45] | 4.2%A | 6.6%A | 19.2%B | 16.0% |
| Real estate and rental and leasing [53] | 8.1%A | 11.8%B | 18.7%B | 23.6% |
| Other services (except public administration) [81] | 3.9%A | 7.3%A | 17.2%B | 16.7% |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction [21] | 1.6%A | 5.6%A | 13.4%B | 14.8% |
| Manufacturing [31-33] | 3.7%A | 13.1%B | 13.1%B | 24.4% |
| Accommodation and food services [72] | 0.9%A | 1.5%A | 12.7%B | 17.4% |
| Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services [56] | 10.5%B | 9.8%A | 12.2%A | 19.6% |
| Transportation and warehousing [48-49] | 2.3%A | 1.8%A | 9.8%A | 8.0% |
| Construction [23] | 1.9%A | 3.6%A | 9.2%A | 18.3% |
| Wholesale trade [41] | 8.1%B | 10.6%B | 7.9%A | 16.8% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting [11] | 0.7%A | 1.8%A | 4.5%A | 13.2% |
Letters after values are Statistics Canada data-quality grades: A excellent, B very good, C good, D acceptable, E use with caution. Planned-use values come from the analysis article, which does not print grades. Table scrolls horizontally on small screens.
AI adoption by business size
In Q2 2026 the largest firms were the most likely to use AI: 1 to 4 employees 19.9%, 5 to 19 employees 14.9%, 20 to 99 employees 25.8%, 100 or more employees 27.8%.
| Employment size | Used, Q2 2024 | Used, Q2 2025 | Used, Q2 2026 | Plan to use, Q3 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 employees | 5.9%A | 12.8%A | 19.9%A | 25.6% |
| 5 to 19 employees | 6.3%A | 9.4%A | 14.9%A | 21.0% |
| 20 to 99 employees | 6.4%A | 15.4%A | 25.8%B | 32.8% |
| 100 or more employees | 5.8%A | 17.9%B | 27.8%B | 37.5% |
Letters after values are Statistics Canada data-quality grades: A excellent, B very good, C good, D acceptable, E use with caution. Planned-use values come from the analysis article, which does not print grades.
What businesses use AI for
Among businesses that used AI, the most common applications in Q2 2026 were data analytics (36.6%), text analytics (34.5%) and virtual agents or chatbots (28.2%). Planned use of large language models grew fastest, from 9.3% of planning businesses in Q3 2024 to 39.3% in Q3 2026.
| Application | Used, Q2 2024 | Used, Q2 2025 | Used, Q2 2026 | Plan to use, Q3 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data analytics | 25.0% | 26.4% | 36.6% | 41.7% |
| Text analytics | 27.0% | 35.7% | 34.5% | 29.0% |
| Virtual agents or chatbots | 26.5% | 24.8% | 28.2% | 31.8% |
| Natural language processing | 28.9% | 23.1% | 27.0% | 18.8% |
| Large language models | 21.9% | 19.1% | 24.8% | 39.3% |
| Speech or voice recognition | 18.1% | 20.0% | 20.6% | 20.4% |
| Marketing automation | 15.2% | 23.1% | 19.8% | 23.4% |
| Machine learning | 20.1% | 18.6% | 18.2% | 19.4% |
| Recommendation systems | 12.3% | 14.0% | 17.9% | 17.1% |
| Image or pattern recognition | 21.8% | 11.4% | 14.0% | 10.9% |
| Decision-making systems | 6.1% | 5.7% | 13.7% | 14.0% |
| Deep learning | 1.9% | 6.6% | 13.1% | 9.9% |
| Robotic process automation | 2.6% | 3.8% | 5.0% | 5.1% |
| Machine or computer vision | 4.7% | 3.1% | 4.6% | 4.6% |
| Augmented reality | 2.6% | 3.2% | 3.0% | 1.4% |
| Neural networks | 4.4% | 2.5% | 2.3% | 1.7% |
| Biometrics | 1.0% | 3.2% | 1.8% | 2.3% |
Percentages are of businesses that used (or plan to use) AI, not of all businesses, and a business can report several applications. "Other type" is omitted.
Methodology and definitions
- Survey
- All figures come from Statistics Canada's Canadian Survey on Business Conditions (CSBC), an online survey of business establishments with employees, drawn as a stratified random sample by geography, industry and size. Estimates use calibrated weights to represent all businesses. The Q2 2026 wave ran April 1, 2026 to May 6, 2026 with a sample of 21,105 and 9,251 responses; the Q3 2026 wave ran July 2, 2026 to August 6, 2026 with 21,161 sampled and 9,601 responses.
- AI use
- A business "used AI" if it reported using artificial intelligence to produce goods or deliver services in the 12 months before it answered. Because responses arrive over several weeks, each wave covers a slightly different 12-month window (for Q2 2026, anywhere from April 1, 2025 to May 6, 2026).
- Planned use
- Planned use comes from the third-quarter wave, which asks whether a business plans to use AI to produce goods or deliver services over the next 12 months. It is a different question from actual use, asked a quarter later, so the two series should be compared as trends rather than matched point for point.
- Applications
- Application shares are calculated among businesses that used (or plan to use) AI. A rise in an application share can coincide with a fall in its count, or the reverse, because the base grows each year.
- Comparability and quality
- Each year is published as a separate Statistics Canada table. Small sectors carry wider margins of error; check the quality grade before quoting an industry figure, and avoid reading small year-to-year moves in C to E graded values as real change. ITL has not adjusted, modelled or combined any values.
Sources
Every figure on this page was taken from one of these Statistics Canada publications. Titles are given as published.
- Analysis on planned use of artificial intelligence by businesses in Canada, third quarter of 2026
Analysis article · Released
- Analysis on artificial intelligence use by businesses in Canada, second quarter of 2026
Analysis article · Released
- Analysis on expected use of artificial intelligence by businesses in Canada, third quarter of 2025
Analysis article · Released
- Analysis on artificial intelligence use by businesses in Canada, second quarter of 2025
Analysis article · Released
- Analysis on expected use of artificial intelligence by businesses in Canada, third quarter of 2024
Analysis article · Released
- Analysis on artificial intelligence use by businesses in Canada, second quarter of 2024
Analysis article · Released
- Table 33-10-1207-01 Use of artificial intelligence by businesses or organizations in producing goods or delivering services over the next 12 months, third quarter of 2026
Data table · Released
- Table 33-10-1167-01 Use of artificial intelligence by businesses and organizations in producing goods or delivering services over the last 12 months, second quarter of 2026
Data table · Released
- Table 33-10-1004-01 Use of artificial intelligence by businesses and organizations in producing goods or delivering services over the last 12 months, second quarter of 2025
Data table · Released
- Table 33-10-0825-01 Use of artificial intelligence by businesses and organizations in producing goods or delivering services over the last 12 months, second quarter of 2024
Data table · Released
Source: Statistics Canada. Reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of Statistics Canada, under the Statistics Canada Open Licence. This page is not endorsed by Statistics Canada. Statistics Canada Open Licence
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of Canadian businesses use AI?
19.2% of businesses in Canada used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the 12 months before Statistics Canada's Q2 2026 survey, collected April 1 to May 6, 2026. That is up from 12.2% in Q2 2025 and 6.1% in Q2 2024, roughly a tripling in two years.
Which industries in Canada use AI the most?
In Q2 2026 the leading sectors were Information and cultural industries (42.3%), Finance and insurance (40.4%) and Professional, scientific and technical services (32.4%). Use was lowest in Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (4.5%), Wholesale trade (7.9%), Construction (9.2%).
How many Canadian businesses plan to adopt AI?
In Q3 2026, 25.2% of businesses said they plan to use AI over the next 12 months, up from 14.5% in Q3 2025 and 10.6% in Q3 2024. Statistics Canada notes that actual use has outpaced earlier plans: 14.5% planned to use AI in Q3 2025, and 19.2% reported using it by Q2 2026.
What do Canadian businesses use AI for?
Among businesses that used AI in Q2 2026, the top applications were data analytics (36.6%), text analytics (34.5%) and virtual agents or chatbots (28.2%). Large language models were used by 24.8% of AI-using businesses.
Do small businesses in Canada use AI less than large ones?
Mostly, but not uniformly. In Q2 2026: 1 to 4 employees 19.9%, 5 to 19 employees 14.9%, 20 to 99 employees 25.8%, 100 or more employees 27.8%. Statistics Canada also reports that 41.4% of businesses with 1 to 4 employees consider AI not relevant to them, compared with 21.3% of businesses with 100 or more employees.
What stops Canadian businesses from using more AI?
In Q2 2026, 13.4% of businesses named cybersecurity or privacy concerns as a barrier that limits their use of AI, and 10.6% named cost. 40.0% said AI is not relevant to their business.
How often is this tracker updated, and can I reuse the data?
We check for new Canadian Survey on Business Conditions results every quarter and update the page when Statistics Canada publishes new AI figures; it was last updated on October 14, 2026. You are welcome to quote the figures with a link to this page. The underlying data is published by Statistics Canada under the Statistics Canada Open Licence, so please also credit Statistics Canada.
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Citation
Innovation Trigger Lab. (October 14, 2026). Canada AI adoption tracker: business use of artificial intelligence, 2024–2026 [Data set]. Data from Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Business Conditions. https://www.itl-inc.ca/en/research/canada-ai-adoptionHTML link
<a href="https://www.itl-inc.ca/en/research/canada-ai-adoption">Canada AI adoption tracker (Innovation Trigger Lab)</a>Turn adoption into results
In Q2 2026, 44.4% of AI-using businesses changed their training or staffing because of AI. Innovation Trigger Lab builds production AI systems for Canadian teams: retrieval over your own documents, customer-facing chatbots and agents with approval steps.