Young Canadians embrace AI but see AI-generated work as cheating: new national study

Toronto, ON, August 6, 2026: As artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot and AI translation technologies become increasingly integrated into work, school and everyday life, Canadians are drawing clear ethical boundaries around their use, according to findings of a national survey released today by The Association for Canadian Studies (ACS-AEC) & Metropolis Institute and the Diversity Institute (DI). At the same time, the survey found that AI translation tools are becoming an important support for newcomer integration and communication across language groups. 

Younger Canadians are among the heaviest users of AI tools such as ChatGPT and Copilot and the most optimistic about AI’s benefits. Yet they are especially likely to view AI-generated final answers as cheating and strongly support disclosure of AI use.

More than half of Canadians aged 18 to 24 say they know someone whose use of AI they consider to be cheating. But despite strong support for disclosure, only 45% of respondents who use AI at work or school disclose their use of AI, while more than one third (34%) said they do not. About 75% of Canadians support disclosure of AI use in schoolwork or academic assignments, while around 60% support disclosure of AI use in workplace tasks. While using AI for brainstorming, generating ideas or improving work is more widely accepted, most Canadians consider the use of AI to produce part or most of a final answer to be cheating if not disclosed.

“These findings are really interesting because for years our research has shown the paradox that Canada is a leader in AI research and talent, but has lagged globally in AI adoption,“ said Wendy Cukier, founder of the Diversity Institute and academic research director of the Future Skills Centre. “These findings point to another dimension of the AI paradox. Young Canadians are among the heaviest users of AI, but they are also quite discerning about its use and are most likely to question where assistance ends and cheating begins. Even when  formal policies and guardrails are not in place, Canadians are defining their own boundaries around its acceptable use.”

The findings suggest Canadians are not broadly opposed to AI adoption, but they do want clearer expectations around disclosure and acceptable use. “There's a broad consensus of need for disclosure. Where the big gap is, is the degree to which people feel there needs to be disclosure and the actual degree of disclosure,” said Jack Jedwab, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACS-AEC and the Metropolis Institute. “But still, the majority feels that users should be required to disclose the the use of it” 

This survey builds upon the Diversity Institute’s extensive research about inclusive AI adoption as well as its previous research with ACS-AEC examining the role of language skills and translation technologies in supporting immigrant integration and workplace participation. The work of both organizations play a critical role in informing public discourse and shaping policy development about the barriers and opportunities of an inclusive economy in Canada.

The survey also highlights the growing role of AI translation technologies in supporting communication across language groups, workplace participation and immigrant integration.

Immigrants and people interacting across language groups are substantially more likely to use AI tools, including generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT and Copilot. More than one-third of respondents say AI translation improves job performance, while nearly 30% per cent say they would face more workplace barriers without AI tools. Respondents whose first language is neither English nor French report the greatest benefits from AI translation technologies.

Despite growing use of AI translation systems, the survey shows that human translators remain more trusted overall. Canadians are more comfortable using AI translation in lower-risk settings such as entertainment, education, and workplace communication, while remaining cautious in legal and healthcare situations. 

Beyond translation, the use of AI tools such as Chat GPT or similar applications is becoming increasingly common. The survey found that nearly half of Canadians use AI tools such as ChatGPT or Copilot at least weekly, with usage rising to roughly 60 to 70 per cent among Canadians under age 45. 

The survey also found that one-third of Canadians say they are becoming increasingly dependent on AI tools, while trust in AI-generated information remains moderate. Overall, the findings point to the rapid normalization of AI use across Canadian society. At the same time, Canadians continue to negotiate ethical boundaries around transparency, trust, dependency and acceptable use as AI becomes increasingly embedded in education, work and daily life.

The full presentation of the research findings is available.