Canadians are navigating 2.4% annual inflation, with the cost of essentials rising up to 30% for everyday items like coffee, while 63% have experimented with generative AI – highlighting a…
Canada
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
simple
Canada Consumers and AI: 2026
"As AI evolves, proactive collaboration between governments, institutions and individuals will define the next era of fraud prevention, ensuring security keeps pace with innovation."
Michael Lloy, Research Analyst
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
What you need to know
Outlook for consumers and AI
Opportunities
Premium human-crafted experiences
Rebuilding trust at every touchpoint
Segment-smart growth plays
THE MARKET
Consumers and the economic outlook
Costs remain elevated for Canadians
Graph 1: consumer price index, 2025
Rising costs and AI ethics: navigating consumer trust in a shifting economy
US AI policies shape Canadian digital landscape amid platform dominance
AI regulation demands surge amid Grok-AI Scandal: US and Canada Respond
AI boom sparks global semiconductor and RAM shortage as manufacturers prioritize enterprise over consumer markets
Canada’s AI data centre boom: rising costs and environmental challenges
AI and fraud: staying ahead of evolving threat
THE CONSUMER
AI knowledge and usage
Generative AI in Canada: adoption trends, age gaps and opportunities for growth
Graph 2: knowledge and usage of AI, 2025
Men aged 35-54 are power users of AI – both personally and professionally
Graph 3: “I regularly use AI tools in my personal life,” by age and gender, 2025
Graph 4: “I regularly use AI tools professionally for work*,” by age and gender, 2025
Unlocking AI adoption: how men aged 35-54 lead the way in professional use
There is a knowledge and usage gap among women when it comes to AI
Bridging the gaps: how consumers use AI and opportunities for growth
Graph 5: tasks AI used for in the past three months, 2025
Women were significantly more likely to be uninterested in utilizing AI technology
Graph 6: have not used in the past three months and uninterested in using, by gender, 2025
Driven by women, companionship sees the largest lack of interest among consumers who aren’t using it
Canada’s minority population – usually younger – are significantly more likely to utilize AI both personally and professionally
Graph 7: AI usage and knowledge, by race, 2025
Interest among ethnic minorities results in increased usage for most AI-driven activities
Graph 8: tasks AI used for in the past three months, by race, 2025
Concerns and perceptions of AI
The majority of consumers feel that concerns about AI are not overblown
Graph 9: most concerns about the dangers of AI are overblown (% agree), by age and gender, 2025
Two-thirds of Canadians feel their single greatest concern around AI is job loss and replacement
Graph 10: my single greatest concern with AI is the potential for job loss (% agree), by age and gender, 2025
Younger consumers are re-evaluating social platform usage based on AI and data-sharing policies
Ethnic minority consumers in Canada feel AI concerns are overblown, but still show caution around data sharing
Graph 11: AI concerns and precautions (% agree), by race, 2025
AI in customer experience
Three quarters of consumers dislike being forced to interact with a machine instead of a human
Much of this sentiment is likely driven by poor perceptions of AI competence
When it comes to AI and automation, consumers would find AI-driven product comparison tools most useful, followed by customer service-related uses
Graph 12: AI/automation that would improve the customer experience, 2025
Building trust in AI: transparency, safety and personalization lead consumer priorities
Graph 13: AI capabilities to increase comfort in consumer-facing roles, 2025
Transparency, safety and personalization lead consumer priorities and increase consumer comfort
Age and gender inform how open consumers are to increasing their comfort level with AI
Graph 14: AI capabilities to increase comfort in consumer-facing roles, by gender, 2025
Graph 15: AI capabilities to increase comfort in consumer-facing roles, by age, 2025
Bridging the AI trust gap: transparency, ethics and gendered comfort levels
Chinese consumers are significantly more likely to find comfort in new AI capabilities
Graph 16: AI capabilities to increase comfort in consumer-facing roles, Chinese consumers vs overall, 2025
AI in advertisements could turn consumers off of a brand completely
Graph 17: “I would avoid purchasing or consuming a product if the company promoting it utilized an AI advertisement” (% agree), by age and gender, 2025
AI preferences and interests
Two-thirds of consumers prefer open-source AI projects due to the perception of increased transparency
Consumers are least interested in AI companionship
Graph 18: AI-related items least interested in (any rank), 2025
Older consumers are significantly less interested in interacting with AI agents for companionship
Graph 19: AI-related items least interested in, by age, 2025
Many Canadians report feeling a greater appreciation for human-created art and media due to rise of AI
Graph 20: AI makes me value things created by humans more (% agree), by age and gender, 2025
For two-thirds of consumers, AI is obfuscating what is real
AI ethics and regulation
Nearly all consumers feel that training AI on existing media and art is tantamount to theft
Graph 21: training AI systems on content that was obtained without the creator’s consent or proper authorization is morally wrong, and should be legally punished (% agree), by age and gender, 2025
Consumers want the ability to disable AI features
Consumers don’t have faith in the government to protect them from AI, skewing higher among Black consumers
Graph 22: the Canadian government will likely do more to protect businesses from AI (eg protecting copyright, intellectual property) than individual people (% agree), Black consumers vs overall, 2025
Bridging the AI trust gap: implications for brands, government and consumers
PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING
2025 ushered in the start of a new era of home robots with the 1X launch of NEO – the first consumer‑ready humanoid home robot
SwitchBot unveils AI‑driven smart‑home robots & AI pets at IFA 2025
SpriteSwap studio lets consumers turn photos into playable Game Boy ROMs
Smartphone‑integrated AI tools drove major consumer adoption through 2025–2026
Model updates and additions prompt increased usage and adoption: OpenAI
Google’s Gemini gains traction with viral image/video models
Grok’s visual‑generation upgrades drove a major adoption spike
Meta’s expanding AI integration across Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram drove major engagement growth (2025-26)
APPENDIX
Consumer questions
Key partnerships and deals in the AI market in 2025
OpenAI deals and partnerships – 2025
Google Deepmind/Gemini partnerships – 2025
Microsoft Copilot partnerships – 2025
Meta AI and Llama partnerships – 2025
X and Grok AI partnerships – 2025
Research methodolgy and terms
Consumer research methodology – Canada
Abbreviations and terms
Abbreviations and terms (cont’d)
Artificial Intelligence in Canada – Consumer Trends
Canadians are navigating 2.4% annual inflation, with the cost of essentials rising up to 30% for everyday items like coffee, while 63% of Canadians have experimented with generative AI – highlighting a paradox of consumer strain and tech enthusiasm. This rapid adoption is tempered by clear demographic divides: men 35-54 and minorities over-index in usage, while 66% of all adults cite job loss as their top AI worry. The most significant industry impact is the transformation of the labour market, as Canadians confront the promise and peril of AI in equal measure.
Women and older demographics remain more skeptical about AI, preferring human-driven service and expressing discomfort with AI replacing creative or emotional roles. Meanwhile, scandals such as Grok-AI’s misuse and the growing burden of energy bills threaten to erode hard-won consumer trust, even as powerful new applications from OpenAI, Google and Meta rapidly shift digital norms.
The path forward favours brands offering transparent, hybrid AI-human experiences that demonstrably save time and money. The biggest opportunity lies in practical, wallet-friendly solutions that enhance daily life, while the biggest threat remains diminished confidence – driven by high-profile scandals and visible impacts on consumers’ wallets. Bridging the trust gap, with clarity and ethical leadership, is essential to convert curiosity into loyal AI adoption.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
Inflationary pressure and its impact on AI affordability and value perception among Canadian consumers.
Persistent demographic gaps in AI adoption, knowledge and trust – especially across age, gender and ethnicity.
Growing regulatory momentum in response to high-profile AI controversies and risks to consumer privacy and content rights.
Hardware bottlenecks including a global semiconductor and memory shortage and the impact on device costs and availability.
Evolving expectations for AI transparency, human control and safety, with strong consumer demands for ethics and privacy protections.
Success stories from brands mainstreaming AI via everyday devices, emphasizing hybrid AI-human service and creators’ input.
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