Threat Labs Report: Canada 2026

GenAI adoption in Canada has continued to rise over the past year, with genAI usage now observed in 92% of organizations, up from 82% a year ago. This growth reflects increasing maturity and confidence in genAI technologies across Canadian organizations, as adoption levels move closer to global norms.

Organizations in Canada have made notable progress in reducing shadow AI risks associated with genAI adoption by actively steering users away from personal genAI accounts and toward company-managed tools. Over the past year, the use of personal genAI applications has declined significantly, falling from 62% to 36%, while adoption of organization-managed genAI solutions has increased from 41% to 71%, besting the global averages in both cases. This shift reflects an apparent change in user behavior as Canadian organizations strengthen governance around genAI usage and prioritize managed environments that offer improved data protection, oversight, and compliance. The trend points to a growing preference for structured, enterprise-aligned genAI deployments that support innovation while reducing security and compliance risks.

In Canada, the top genAI applications closely reflect broader global usage patterns, with ChatGPT remaining the most widely adopted genAI app, used by 69% of organizations. Google Gemini follows closely at 62%, highlighting intense competition among leading genAI platforms as adoption continues to expand. Microsoft Copilot tools have also gained significant traction, with 42% of organizations using them, driven by their integration into productivity and collaboration workflows. The remaining top applications include a mix of specialized and embedded AI tools that support a wide range of business and operational use cases across Canadian organizations.

The chart below illustrates how usage of the top genAI applications in Canada has evolved over the past year, highlighting rapid shifts in the genAI landscape. Over this period, ChatGPT usage declined, while Google Gemini adoption increased steadily, signaling a redistribution of genAI usage across platforms. Microsoft 365 Copilot continued to show consistent growth, driven by its integration into core productivity and enterprise workflows. At the same time, newer entrants gained traction quickly: Google NotebookLM emerged rapidly, reaching 33% adoption, while Grok also saw fast uptake, used by 26% of organizations. These trends point to a diversifying genAI ecosystem in Canada, as organizations expand beyond early market leaders and experiment with a broader set of tools.

As genAI adoption continues to grow across Canada, concerns around data exposure are becoming increasingly important. Organizations are using genAI tools for tasks such as summarizing documents, generating reports, and supporting development workflows, all of which can involve sharing sensitive information and expanding the potential attack surface. As genAI becomes more embedded in daily operations, data protection has become a top priority, particularly as shadow AI remains a challenge.

Recent analysis of data policy violations in Canada shows that regulated data is the most frequently exposed category, accounting for 67% of incidents, followed by passwords and API keys at 18%, intellectual property at 13%, and source code at 2%. These trends highlight an elevated risk around compliance-sensitive and proprietary information, reinforcing the need for robust DLP controls and secure, well-governed genAI deployments.

Organizations across Canada are taking a cautious approach to genAI adoption, with many choosing to block specific applications due to security, privacy, and compliance concerns. While policies vary by organization, specific tools are restricted far more frequently than others, reflecting where perceived risk is highest. In some cases, blocking entire categories of genAI apps may offer more consistent protection than managing individual tools.

DeepSeek is the most frequently blocked genAI application at 54%, followed by ZeroGPT at 43%. These patterns suggest that Canadian organizations are not only responding to risks posed by individual applications, but are also strengthening broader governance strategies to manage genAI usage within established security and compliance frameworks.