Majority of Canadian workers are optimistic about AI but aren't ready Français

Cision Canada

3 days ago

Less than 10 per cent use workplace AI tools daily, highlighting room for greater adoption, TD survey finds
TORONTO, Aug. 14, 2025 /CNW/ - As AI becomes more embedded in the workplace, employees recognize its potential to boost productivity and support career growth. Yet, despite this optimism, many still feel underprepared to use AI effectively. Insights from a TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank") survey reveals while the majority of Canadian workers see AI as a helpful tool, they lack the training and support needed to use it effectively.
According to the 2025 TD AI Insights Report, 56 per cent of Canadians surveyed who use AI at work report it enhances their productivity. Younger Canadians in particular, such as Gen Z (69 per cent) and Millennials (59 per cent) are more inclined to view AI as an enhancer of their work compared to Gen X (50 per cent) and Boomers (38 per cent).
"AI is transforming the workplace and creating powerful new opportunities for growth, learning, and career advancement." says Tina Robinet, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Shared Services at TD. "At TD, we see AI not just as a tool but as an opportunity to enable and empower employees. Our focus is on building colleague confidence around new technologies."
AI as a Career Differentiator and Source of Pressure
Canadian workers see AI knowledge as a career asset. More than half (52 per cent) of those who use AI at work believe AI expertise gives them a competitive edge over their peers in similar roles. At the same time, 27 per cent admit to exaggerating their AI proficiency to colleagues, suggesting growing pressure to keep up.
Younger generations are leading the mindset shift. Nearly a third of Gen Z (32 per cent) see AI as more of an opportunity than a threat to future jobs. They are followed by Millennials (23 per cent), while Gen X (18 per cent) and Boomers are least likely to see AI as an opportunity (19 per cent).
Room to Grow in AI Tool Adoption
While more than half of Canadian workers (58 per cent) say they use AI tools provided by their workplace, a much smaller proportion use these tools regularly. According to the survey, only 8 per cent use company-sponsored AI tools daily, 14 per cent use them weekly and 13 per cent claim they use them monthly. A significant portion of Canadian workers surveyed report they never use AI tools at work (42 per cent).
"We know that adopting new technologies can feel daunting – for both the organizations themselves and colleagues," says Kirsti Racine, Vice President of the TD AI Technology Platform. "At TD, taking a targeted approach to delivering AI capabilities to colleagues has proven to be successful in helping us overcome this barrier. We are working with our lines of business and our colleagues to roll out solutions where they can see benefits in the near term – and as a result, we've seen a steady increase in engagement, adoption and excitement about our AI tools."
Upskilling Remains Critical
One of the top barriers cited by Canadian workers to wider AI adoption is a lack of training. Nearly two thirds (64 per cent) of those workers using AI feel their employers have not provided adequate guidance on how to use AI effectively. Over a quarter (27 per cent) even strongly disagree that they have received adequate training from their employer on using AI in the workplace.
Moreover, many workers believe their colleagues, and even their managers, lack true understanding of AI's capabilities and risks. When it comes to use of AI in the workplace, 58 per cent say most of their colleagues have no idea what they are doing, and almost half (48 per cent) think their boss is out of touch.
TD is actively working to help address the gap between potential and preparedness at the Bank. Among the targeted colleague populations who are using AI tools, TD has a colleague engagement rate of 80 per cent with Microsoft Office 365 Copilot and 92 per cent with GitHub Copilot and is receiving positive feedback about the capabilities that have been enabled including augmented code and document creation. In addition, through various learning and development programs like TD Thrive, colleagues can build skills at their own pace through a range of formats, including virtual sessions, in-person learning, coaching, and self-guided tutorials to support AI literacy and readiness.
"AI is transforming how Canadians work, but meaningful adoption requires more than just new tools. It takes trust, training, and thoughtful leadership," says Luke Gee, Chief Analytics & AI Officer, TD Bank Group. "Behind every AI strategy at TD is the opportunity to make customer and colleague experiences smarter and more intuitive. From chatbots that help our colleagues work faster, to using AI to automate tasks to free up colleagues time, to providing training to help grow colleagues AI skills, our goal is to make banking simpler, safer and smarter."
This approach is fostered by the Bank as part of TD Invent, its strategic umbrella effort to power purposeful innovation across the Bank. For more information, visit the TD Stories page or learn more about TD's latest expansion of its AI research and development center, Layer 6.
About the Survey
The 2025 TD AI Report was completed by Ipsos and conducted between March 17th and 31st, on behalf of TD. For this survey, a sample of 2,500 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank"). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by assets and serves over 27.9 million customers in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Auto Finance Canada; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, TD Auto Finance U.S., and TD Wealth (U.S.); Wealth Management and Insurance, including TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD Insurance; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities and TD Cowen. TD also ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms, with more than 18 million active online and mobile customers. TD had $2.1 trillion in assets on April 30, 2025. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.