KEY INSIGHTS
The fastest-growing line on your P&L, in full view.
Five findings from the real spend data of 10,000 Canadian businesses.
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CANADA’S AI SPENDING SNAPSHOT · 2026
Canada’s AI spend grew 12× in two years
The fastest-growing line on your books is also the hardest to forecast. Two years of spending data from more than 10,000 Canadian businesses on Float shows why, and what finance teams can do about it.
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Aug 24Feb 25Aug 25Feb 26Aug 26
Growth in AI spending among businesses active from August 2024 to August 2026. Drag across to read any month →
Source: Canada’s AI Spending Snapshot 2026. Anonymized transaction data from 10,000+ Canadian businesses on Float, August 2024 to August 2026.
major Operating expense01 / 05
47% of businesses now buy AI
unlike software spend02 / 05
AI is more volatile than the rest of your software stack.
the two-model default03 / 05
Running both is the default for frontier lab customers.
Hidden costs of Ai04 / 05
77%
of AI spend is billed in USD.
impact across canada05 / 05
Quebec leads in AI adoption.
major Operating expense
AI is no longer a rounding error.
Among the 47% of businesses spending on AI, the median AI spend per employee is $92/yr. Spending is concentrated among highest adopters with the top 1% spending 38x the median.
$3,527
The top 1% median AI spend per employee per year
What this means for you
AI needs a dedicated budget, spend controls, and regular reporting... not a one-time approval that never gets revisited
Manage your AI spend with Float →
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AI adoption on Float
47%
of businesses
buy at least one AI product
unlike software spend
AI spend is hard to predict and even harder to control.
AI swings 3× as hard as Slack month to month. To put this in view: 71% of AI customers had a month where their AI bill jumped by more than 50%.
$310,000
largest single month-over-month increase from a single AI vendor
What this means for you
Measure AI cost and headcount against output together. This gives you insight beyond the budget, spending more isn't overspending if it leads to real efficiency gains.
Get more AI spending insights →
Month-to-month spend volatility
Median coefficient of variation · Lower is steadier
the two-model default
The AI race has reached Canada.
Two years ago OpenAI reached 86% of AI buyers while Anthropic reached just 12%. Today they each sit near 70% adoption, with half of businesses buying both. While reach is level, spending is not.
1.8x
what the average Anthropic buyer spends, against an OpenAI buyer
What this means for you
Plan for AI to expand from within. Establish token limits per employee and set custom spend limits per vendor.
See how other vendors stack up →
Businesses paying for both Claude + ChatGPT
Share of OpenAI or Anthropic buyers
2024 - 13% paid for both2026 - 51% paid for both
Hidden costs of Ai
Loonies in, greenbacks out.
Nearly every major AI vendor bills in USD. For businesses paying in CAD that means additional currency conversion fees on growing AI spend.
2.45%
average FX markup when a conversion fee applied
What this means for you
Pay AI vendors the way they bill: in USD, without the bank markup. With Float, customers save up to 90% on FX fees and can issue unlimited USD/CAD cards.
Calculate your FX fee savings with Float →
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
77%
of AI spending is billed in U.S. dollars
impact across canada
AI adoption is now a nationwide story.
Quebec leads the country in adoption and the highest average spend per employee. Ontario is the biggest market by total volume of spend, while the fastest growth is in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
+12%
rise in the share of businesses buying AI in SK and MB
What this means for you
Canadian businesses are adopting AI beyond the tech hubs, those without a budget line for AI will soon be the outliers.
Get industry adoption insights →
AI adoption by province
Share of businesses purchasing AI
39%56%
WHAT IT MEANS for finance teams
AI has moved from an experiment to a line item.
The teams getting ahead have the visibility and spend controls to turn a fast-moving, hard-to-see expense into one they can plan for.
of Canadian businesses now buy AI
saw spend jump by half in a single month
of AI charges arrive with no receipt attached
We kept the receipts.
See every finding, the data behind it, and what it means for finance teams.
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