The AI Tipping Point: Why Canada is Choosing Caution Over Conquest
A Lack of Trust is Fuelling Public Attitudes
Artificial intelligence (AI) is at a tipping point. While not yet ubiquitous, it is gradually becoming so saturated in the everyday lives of Canadians that imagining a world without it is going to be increasingly difficult. However, unlike the early days of the Internet, Canadians have not embraced AI with open arms. This hesitance carries significant implications for national innovation and productivity.
The parallels between the growth of AI and the Internet are striking. The Internet quickly moved from niche applications (e.g., email and basic search) to be embedded in everything we do. AI is following the same trajectory. The Internet comparison is useful for thinking about AI because like the Internet AI is simply a tool so its implications only follow from how people and/or companies use it.
THE THREE AI EXPERIENCE TYPES
To understand public opinion, we must distinguish between three distinct ways Canadians encounter AI:
Intentional use: Actively using tools like ChatGPT or Gemini to research, write, or create.
Embedded use: AI is not visible to the person directly such as when AI is used to help diagnose health conditions or detect bank fraud.
Economic impact: When the implementation of AI structural job loss or fundamental career change.
For the most part, attitudes are shaped by the first (personal experience) and the third (economic fear). The second remains largely invisible, which creates a “perception gap” where the benefits of AI are hidden while the risks are front-and-centre.
USE IS GROWING, BUT LAGS BEHIND
How much do Canadians actually use AI? The results are mixed.
Leger (August 2025): 57% of Canadians have used an AI tool, a sharp increase from 47% earlier in the year and up from 25% in early 2023.
Angus Reid (October 2025): Daily usage remains lower, with about 16% using an AI platform daily.
In a recent global report, Canada ranks toward the bottom of advanced economies in AI literacy and adoption. Only 50% of Canadians are at least semi-regular users (at least every few months) which places Canada in 41st place out of 47 countries surveyed for the University of Melbourne and KPMG Report.
Interestingly, Canada shares this “adoption anxiety” with the U.S. (53%), the U.K. (52%) and Germany (51%). Emerging economies continue to outpace advanced ones in adoption, likely because they view AI as a leapfrog technology for growth rather than a threat to established systems.
There is, however, a generational "Opportunity Gap." Younger Canadians are much more likely to use AI: 83% have ever used an AI tool according to a Leger survey in the fall. According to the Angus Reid Institute survey, 24% of those under 35 years of age use an AI platform daily compared with 10% of those 55 years and older.
There is a "digital divide 2.0" happening. The future workforce (Gen Z) is already incorporating AI tools into their life. If the "old guard" (management/government) remains skeptical while the "new guard" adopts it, Canada faces an internal cultural friction that could stall productivity.
The "Hidden Adopter": While the Leger survey indicates that 27% have used AI tools at work, according to KPMG Canada 48% of Canadian workers are using AI tools at work in ways that do not necessarily align with company guidelines.
A LACK OF TRUST DRIVES LOW ADOPTION
The primary driver of low adoption globally is a persistent lack of trust in low adoption countries. Only 34% of Canadians say they highly or completely trust AI systems. Trust is a formula: knowledge, perceived benefits and the belief that there are sufficient safeguards in okay increase trust while perceiving risks lowers trust.
The perceived risks and are perceptions around institutional safeguards are likely to be the most important drivers of trust and therefore adoption and acceptance in Canada.
FEAR AND CONCERN
Several 2025 polls highlight a “pessimism bias” in Canada. A Pew Research Center study found that only 9% of Canadians feel more “excited” than “concerned” about AI’s role in daily life. Compare this to the 45% who are purely concerned. Only a handful of countries, including Greece and Italy, report higher levels of anxiety.
An Angus Reid Institute survey in October of 2025 found that only three in ten Canadians think that AI will make life easier for everyone (31%) or is a force for good in society (29%). In contrast, large majorities think there are negatives of AI. Almost everyone (95%) agrees that AI-generated misinformation will become one of our biggest challenges and 86% think it will cause more job losses than job gains.
The 2025 University of Melbourne and KPMG Report found that Canadians were one of the least likely countries to think the benefits of AI applications outweigh the risks.
Canada’s lower consumer use of AI then goes hand in hand with low levels of trust, heightened concerns with the risks, and fear. Importantly, this combination of attitudes is prevalent in many advanced economies. What is it about Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Japan and others that leads their publics to coalesce around this low trust, low adoption situation? Perhaps we see economic disruption as a threat rather than an opportunity because we have more to lose. Whatever it is the one thing Canadians are looking for is government regulation.
GOVERNMENT’S ROLE: THE REGULATORY SAFETY NET
Previous attempts to regulate AI did not pass in the previous Parliament. The 2025 National AI Strategy launched in the fall resets the federal governments regulatory approach to AI for a public that wants action.
83% agree that AI needs to be regulated by the federal government and 46% feel strongly.
44% are skeptical about the government’s ability to regulate AI.
A 2025 Abacus Data study suggests Canadians want a “middle path.” Only 11% trust the tech industry to self-regulate, but only 30% want Canada to have the strictest regulations in the world. The public is looking for “smart regulation” that protects them without stifling the economy.
IMPLICATIONS
The definition problem: The public opinion data focuses use of AI largely on user generated activity but most of the impact, risk and trust data are not as differentiated by how AI is being used. They treat trust in AI as a single concept.
There is a risk that Canadians will largely learn of AI through their own use of consumer products or information about bad actors: Every deepfake, every poor search result or AI driven mistake is highlighted in a world in which consumers don’t see the benefits of incorporating AI in critical industries and sectors.
Three Legislative Must-Haves: To bridge the trust gap, government policy should focus on:
Fill in the legislative gaps that allow bad actors to use AI to harm individuals (e.g., legislating around deepfakes etc.);
Ensure that companies and talent are able to thrive because that ensure that job gains offset job losses;
Protect creators and ensure AI does not get rid of human talent and innovation by ensuring our copyright and intellectual property regime is suited for the current situation.
Canada's real 'Tipping Point' isn't about the technology itself, it is about AI Literacy. If the government wants to regulate AI successfully, they must first educate the public so that 'fear of the unknown' is replaced by 'mastery of the tool.
Discussed above, the following report provides an excellent treatment of AI, especially the intentional use of AI around the world. Gillespie, N., Lockey, S., Ward, T., Macdade, A., & Hassed, G. (2025). Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025. The University of Melbourne and KPMG. DOI 10.26188/28822919 The data for the study was collected between November 2024 and January 2025 in 47 countries.