IBM 2026: 18% of Canadian organizations say they have systems to govern AI across everyday operations.
IBM also links half the cost of AI irregularities, such as errors and duplicated work, at large Canadian enterprises to gaps in governance.
8 May 2026
of Canadian organizations say they have systems in place to coordinate and govern AI across everyday operations
of Canadian executives say gaps in AI governance make it harder to deploy AI at scale
of the cost of AI irregularities at large Canadian enterprises is associated with governance gaps, by IBM’s estimate
IBM Institute for Business Value, May 2026
The IBM Institute for Business Value surveyed more than 1,000 senior leaders in 20 countries, including Canada, with the Dubai Future Foundation. In IBM Canada’s May 2026 release of the results, only 18% of Canadian organizations say they currently have systems in place to coordinate and govern AI across everyday operations.
IBM associates half of what AI irregularities cost large Canadian enterprises, including errors, bias, duplication and uncoordinated deployments, with governance gaps. In its global report, IBM puts the cost of AI irregularities at roughly US$140 million a year for a US$20 billion enterprise.
The study also found that 63% of Canadian executives say gaps in AI governance already make it harder to deploy AI at scale.
In a survey for IBM of full-time office workers familiar with AI tools, run in May 2025 and released in September 2025, 79% of Canadian respondents said they use AI at work, and only 25% rely on enterprise-grade AI tools. Another 33% use a mix of personal and employer tools, and 21% rely entirely on personal apps. Together, 54% use personal AI apps at work. The same release cites IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report: in the past year, employees’ use of unsanctioned AI tools added nearly $308,000 CAD per data breach.
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Sources
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IBM Canada: New IBM Study, AI is Moving Faster Than Oversight in Canada (May 2026)
Source for the 18%, 63% and 50% figures, from IBM Canada’s 7 May 2026 release of the IBM Institute for Business Value study “AI in motion: Orchestrating AI at scale for sovereignty and resilience”, run with the Dubai Future Foundation.
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IBM Institute for Business Value: AI in motion (April 2026)
The global report, with the estimate of roughly US$140 million a year for a US$20 billion enterprise.
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IBM: shadow AI in the Canadian workplace (September 2025)
Source for the workplace figures: a Censuswide survey for IBM of 4,000 full-time office workers familiar with AI tools in the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, collected 23 to 30 May 2025. The same release cites IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report for the $308,000 CAD figure.
More reading notes
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NTT DATA 2026: what the companies furthest ahead with AI prioritize in governance
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University of Queensland and MIT 2026: which sectors are most exposed to AI risk
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30 April 2026A US federal court found that documents a defendant made with an AI tool, not at a lawyer’s direction, were not privileged.
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