What rising AI use means for marketing decisions in Canada

Statistics Canada reported that 19.2% of Canadian businesses used artificial intelligence to produce goods or deliver services during the previous 12 months in the second quarter of 2026. That was up from 12.2% a year earlier and 6.1% in the second quarter of 2024.

Among businesses already using AI, the leading applications were data analytics (36.6%), text analytics (34.5%), and virtual agents or chatbots (28.2%). These figures describe AI-using businesses, rather than all Canadian businesses. They point to familiar activities: comparing information, working through text and helping with recurring interactions.

CIRA's 2025 Canadian Internet Trends survey reported use of Facebook, YouTube and Instagram by 66%, 55% and 45% of Canadian respondents respectively. Reach alone cannot show what a customer needs to know next or whether a post supports a business decision.

CI-Digital's interpretation is that the three dimensions belong together. As some research and drafting tasks become quicker, the value of accurate information, market context and purposeful channel roles increases.

A real signal, with different starting points

The national rise in AI use is significant, yet it is not a universal instruction. Statistics Canada found different adoption levels across sectors and locations: 42.3% in information and cultural industries, 40.4% in finance and insurance, and 32.4% in professional, scientific and technical services. The reported rate was 21.0% among urban businesses and 9.9% among rural businesses.

Forty per cent of businesses said AI was not relevant to the goods or services they provide. That result matters as much as the overall growth figure. Relevance depends on the customer, the task under consideration, the information available and the effort required to change a working process.

The same reasoning applies to marketing. A large audience may not be the best place for a particular message, and a growing market may not be ready for a particular offer. National indicators set context; a business still needs to look at its audience, alternatives, local conditions and information gaps.

For a local business or a company exploring Canada, begin with a market question: what are customers comparing, what information is missing, and what would make the next decision easier? That establishes whether research, content or a public channel has a useful job.

Workflow support before strategy

The most common uses in the Statistics Canada survey suggest that AI often enters through workflow: sorting information, identifying patterns, preparing an initial response or creating a first draft. Marketing automation fits the same broader process when it helps organize a campaign or prepare material for review.

For example, AI may group recurring customer questions, compare public competitor information, flag inconsistent website wording, or adapt an approved research finding into several formats. A person still needs to check the sources, confirm business facts, decide what matters and approve the public statement.

Of businesses reporting AI use, 44.4% said they had changed training or staffing practices. A dependable workflow has an owner who knows what a useful result looks like and can identify an incomplete or inaccurate one.

CI-Digital's analysis is that easier production raises the value of context. When more businesses can prepare drafts and variations quickly, volume is less distinctive. Accurate service information, local knowledge, relevant examples and a meaningful next step carry more weight.

Give each one a job

Facebook describes Pages as a place for businesses and organizations to share updates and connect with people. Its Page Insights can report measures such as reach and engagement. Google Business Profile can maintain information including location, hours, website, photos, reviews, posts and selected social links. The website can hold a fuller explanation, sources, service details and the inquiry route.

These channels work better as a system. A Facebook post can introduce an observation, event or research question. A Google Business Profile can support local discovery and dependable business information. The website can provide the evidence and next step. Relevant secondary channels—such as Instagram, LinkedIn or YouTube—can serve different audiences or formats when the material warrants it.

Customer questions and channel response can reveal recurring confusion or interest. They can inform the next content or research question, but they do not replace market validation. Repeating one automatically adapted paragraph everywhere may increase activity without helping a customer compare, trust or inquire.

A Market-AI-Social decision matrix

The sequence matters more than the software:

Market question -> evidence -> AI-supported task -> channel role -> human review -> feedback

Starting with the market question makes it possible to see whether the process improved a decision, a customer communication or neither.

Start with one bounded test

A two-week test offers a simple way to learn whether a particular use is worth continuing. Choose one recurring task with a defined input and use only non-sensitive information. Record the time required before and after assistance, the corrections or missing context found during review, and whether the output helped a real decision or customer communication.

Begin away from the highest-risk material and avoid an automatic public response. If checking the output takes longer than doing the original task, that is still useful evidence: the workflow needs a different use case, more reliable input or a different approach. At the end of two weeks, decide whether the process should continue, change or stop.