2026 key findings

Across industries, Canadian executives are advancing AI adoption while strengthening the data, governance and modernization foundations needed to scale securely and deliver measurable business value. As organizations respond to evolving geopolitical and economic conditions, they are prioritizing resilience, data sovereignty and technology modernization to enable AI at scale.

AI is moving beyond adoption and into core operations

Canadian organizations are increasingly applying AI to core business and operational processes rather than limiting its use to pilots or experimentation. As AI adoption matures, organizations are placing greater emphasis on measuring business outcomes and realizing value through responsible, enterprise-wide implementation.

Cloud priorities reflect security and sovereignty pressures

Security, cyber risk mitigation, data sovereignty and localization are shaping cloud priorities in Canada. As geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory expectations evolve, organizations are prioritizing trusted cloud environments, governance capabilities and greater control over critical data.

Modernization remains both a barrier and a priority

Legacy systems continue to challenge digitization, data and AI strategies, making modernization a strategic priority. Canadian executives are investing in core application modernization, cloud transformation and modern technology foundations to improve agility, resilience and long-term business value.

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Consultants discussing CGI Voice of Our Client research on a tablet
278
executive discussions
20
industries in Canada
179
organizations

Top trends and priorities in Canada

  • Top macro trend
    Technology and digital acceleration

  • Top industry trend
    AI, automation and digital acceleration

  • Top business priority
    Efficiency, cost control and productivity

  • Top IT priority
    Cybersecurity, resilience and data protection

 

Top 5 macro trends - Technology and digital acceleration

Technology and digital acceleration remains the most impactful macro trend across industries, while shifts in the world economic order and market concentration continue to increase significantly year-over-year.

(% of clients rating macro trends 8+, with 10 as “very high degree of impact on the organization”)

  1. Technology and digital acceleration (75%) ↓
  2. Changing political, fiscal and regulatory environments (52%) ↓
  3. Shift in the world economic order and reconfiguration of supply chains (51%) ↑
  4. Changing social demographics (49%) ▬
  5. Fight against climate change (28%) ↓
Top 5 industry trends - AI, automation and digital acceleration

Trust and control are reshaping industry trends, driven by AI, automation and digital acceleration. Organizations are increasingly focused on compliance, cybersecurity, resilience and operational efficiency amid growing uncertainty.

(Ranked by impact)

  1. AI, automation and digital acceleration
  2. Regulation, compliance and policy change
  3. Cybersecurity, resilience and data protection
  4. Cost pressure, efficiency and budget constraints
  5. Customer/citizen expectations and digital experience
Top 5 business priorities - Efficiency, cost control and productivity

Operational efficiency and growth remain the leading business priorities across industries, while mission continuity and modernization emerge as increasingly important focus areas. Organizations continue balancing transformation ambitions with rising operational, regulatory and execution pressures.

(Ranked by importance)

  1. Efficiency, cost control and productivity
  2. Growth, revenue, market share and profitability
  3. Digital transformation, modernization and automation
  4. Mission delivery, operational continuity and safety
  5. Risk, cybersecurity, compliance, resilience and sovereignty
Top 5 IT priorities - Cybersecurity, resilience and data protection

Cybersecurity and AI are reshaping IT priorities, while modernization and operational efficiency remain urgent focus areas across industries. Organizations continue prioritizing resilience, modernization and stronger data governance foundations.

(Ranked by importance)

  1. AI, automation and advanced analytics
  2. Legacy modernization, infrastructure renewal and technical debt reduction
  3. Operational efficiency, productivity and cost optimization
  4. Cybersecurity, resilience and data protection
  5. Data management, governance and platforms

Additional findings on resilience, data, AI, modernization and managed services in Canada

Colleagues discussing Additional findings on resilience, data, AI, modernization and managed services

 

AI adoption is accelerating, but measurable value remains a challenge

Organizations are rapidly advancing GenAI adoption and applying AI across core business and operational processes, yet many still struggle to quantify outcomes and scale value. Findings show that modernization, governance, process optimization and stronger business and IT alignment increasingly outweigh frontier ambition in realizing AI-driven outcomes.

  • 62%
    of organizations quantify results from AI adoption
  • 38%
    have a holistic AI strategy; only 50% have strategies for specific areas
  • 64%
    are applying AI to core business and operational processes
Modernization and migration to the cloud expected to rise

Over the next two years, the majority of organizations plan investments in application modernization and cloud migration to improve agility, resilience and operational efficiency.

  • 14% (+11 pp)
    plan to modernize more than 80% of their total application portfolio—double their current plan
  • 64% (+21 pp)
    plan to migrate 21–80% of their total application portfolio to a SaaS provider
Reliance on managed services is becoming more selective

Over the next three years, organizations increasingly expect to rely on substantial and selective managed services models to improve scalability, resilience and execution capacity.

  • 46% (+9 pp)
    anticipate reliance on substantial managed application services
  • 38% (+4 pp)
    anticipate reliance on substantial managed infrastructure services
  • 58% (+5 pp)
    anticipate reliance on selective managed horizontal business services
  • 59% (+10 pp)
    anticipate reliance on selective managed vertical/core business services

 

View our insights by industry
 

  Banking & capital markets  Communications  Energy & utilities  Healthcare  Insurance

Manufacturing  Retail, consumer & services  Transportation & logistics