Canadian Marketing Association launches 2026 AI Readiness Report showing significant gains in AI adoption and readiness

New research finds Canadian marketers are using AI more frequently, applying it in more sophisticated ways and becoming more deliberate about responsible adoption

TORONTO – October 27, 2026 – The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) today announced the release of the 2026 Canadian Marketers' AI Readiness Report, revealing meaningful year-over-year progress as Canadian marketers move from experimenting with artificial intelligence to applying it more deeply and responsibly in their work.

Completed in partnership with strategy and powered by twenty44’s proprietary AI readiness platform, the report benchmarks Canadian marketing professionals’ real-world AI readiness and proficiency across four dimensions: openness, knowledge and skills, application ability, and risk and ethics awareness.

The results point to an industry gaining momentum. The overall AI/44 Workforce Assessment Score increased to 51 in 2026, up three points from 48 in 2025, with three of the four dimensions improving year over year.

"Canadian marketers have made meaningful progress in how they use and manage AI over the past year," said Esther Benzie, president and CEO of the CMA. "We're seeing greater adoption, stronger skills and much more deliberate approaches to responsible AI use. At the same time, this research gives us a clear view of where the next opportunities lie. These insights will help the CMA continue to support marketers as AI becomes an increasingly important part of the profession."

Canadian marketers are moving from experimentation to application

Ability to apply AI recorded the largest year-over-year gain, increasing eight points to 52. More than half (51%) of Canadian marketers now use AI at work daily or more often, up from 41% last year.

Marketers are becoming more sophisticated in how they use AI. The proportion reporting only basic use cases (e.g. search, proofing and simple writing) dropped from 38% to 22%, while advanced uses, such as automation, complex analysis and code grew from 19% to 29%.

"Canadian marketers aren't simply using AI more—they're getting better at applying it to meaningful work," said Steve Mast, managing partner at twenty44. "We're seeing basic usage decline while more sophisticated applications grow. Canadian marketers are already ahead of the average knowledge worker in several important areas. The opportunity now is to build on that momentum with hands-on coaching that helps people apply AI to their real workflows and turn today's early wins into everyday capabilities."

Responsible AI adoption is accelerating

One of the strongest positive shifts is in risk and ethics awareness, which increased eight points to 48.

Organizations are making progress on governance and training. The proportion of marketers who describe their organization's AI policy as "very clear" increased from 26% to 35%. The number of respondents who described training as "very effective" doubled to 24%, and the percentage receiving no AI training fell from 38% to 24%. Hands-on practice and real-world examples are the top-rated factors in effective training, followed by clear guidelines and guardrails and job-specific use cases.

Skills are improving—with a clear opportunity to accelerate

Knowledge and skills increased four points to 52, with Canadian marketers' prompting proficiency already slightly ahead of the average knowledge worker. Nearly three-quarters of marketers can state a clear goal when prompting AI. The next opportunity is to build greater proficiency in providing context, structuring prompts and using advanced techniques such as iteration and constraints.

Marketers' confidence in AI's practical value is also growing. Every major benefit category measured increased year over year, including efficiency and time savings, task automation and streamlining, enhanced content creation, and improved data analysis and insights.

Openness has declined as organizations adapt to the pace of change

AI openness was the only dimension to decline in 2026, falling eight points to 52, which provides a clear signal of where to focus next.

The 2026 Canadian Marketers' AI Readiness Report identifies four priorities for maintaining the industry's momentum: strengthen prompting skills, close remaining policy gaps, approach AI adoption as change management, and make training hands-on and specific. Together, the findings show a Canadian marketing profession that has made meaningful progress in just one year—and has a clearer understanding of how to turn accelerating AI adoption into sustained organizational value.

For more information, visit: https://thecma.ca/resources/research.

About the survey and report

The survey methodology was developed by twenty44 and powered through its AI-moderated survey platform. Respondents span solo operators and small, medium and large organizations, in-house marketing teams and marketing agencies alike. Data was collected between March and April 2026. A total of 338 Canadian marketers participated in the survey.

The report was produced by twenty44 using its AI/44 Workforce Assessment, in partnership with the Canadian Marketing Association and strategy, with additional sample provided by Sago.

About the Canadian Marketing Association

The CMA is the voice of marketing in Canada, and our purpose is to champion marketing's powerful impact. We are the catalyst to help Canada's marketers thrive today, while building the marketing mindset and environment of tomorrow. We provide opportunities for our members from coast to coast to develop professionally, contribute to marketing thought leadership, build strong networks, and strengthen the regulatory climate for business success. Our Chartered Marketer (CM) designation signifies that recipients are highly qualified and up to date with best practices, as reflected in the Canadian Marketing Code of Ethics and Standards. We represent virtually all of Canada's major business sectors, and all marketing disciplines, channels and technologies. We advocate with government stakeholders and provide Canadian consumers with information to help them better understand their rights and obligations. For more information, visit thecma.ca.

About strategy

Strategy™ uncovers and shares the "bold vision, brand new ideas" of Canada's national marketing community via daily news coverage on strategyonline.ca, in depth industry analysis and features in strategy magazine, as well as must-attend conferences and recognition programs including the CMO Forum, Agency of the Year, AToMiC Awards, Marketing Awards and Media Innovation Awards. Based in Toronto, Canada, strategy is part of Brunico Communications, a world leader in the B2B content space, producing top trade publications, global content markets, awards programs and conferences for brands Realscreen, Kidscreen, Playback and strategy.

About twenty44

Twenty44 is a Toronto- and Chicago-based network of researchers, marketers and technology professionals that helps organizations prepare for the future of human-AI collaboration. Twenty44 has developed a set of programs and platforms, including the AI/44 Workforce Assessment and AIcademy44, designed to increase the adoption of AI within organizations. At the heart of its approach is the AI/44 Index, a proprietary AI-powered application that identifies where AI can drive the greatest value and helps businesses implement real-world solutions with speed and clarity.

For more information or media inquiries, please contact:

For the CMA:
Amanda Spearing
Earnscliffe
aspearing@earnscliffe.ca
647-669-7250

For twenty44:
Steve Mast
steve@twenty44.co
416-779-4149