How to Use Apple Intelligence on iPhone in Canada: The Simple Guide

Apple Intelligence is Apple’s set of AI features built into the iPhone, and it is now available to users in Canada. It can rewrite your writing, summarise long notifications, clean up stray objects in photos and make Siri more helpful. If you have a compatible iPhone and you have not turned it on yet, this guide walks you through the setup and the features worth trying first.

Before you start, check that your iPhone supports it. Apple Intelligence needs an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 model or newer. It also needs a recent version of iOS. If your iPhone is older than the iPhone 15 Pro, the features will not appear, no matter what you change in Settings.

Step 1: Turn on Apple Intelligence

Open Settings, then tap Apple Intelligence and Siri. If you see an option to join the waitlist, tap it and wait for the notification that you are in. In most recent versions, access is granted quickly, often within hours.

Once you are in, make sure Apple Intelligence is switched on. Your iPhone will download the models it needs in the background. This can take a while, so connect to Wi-Fi and leave the phone charging if you can. You will get a notification when the download is done and the features are ready.

Step 2: Set your language and region

Apple Intelligence works in English in Canada, including Canadian English in recent versions. Go to Settings, then General, then Language and Region, and check that your iPhone language is set to English (Canada) or English (US). If the Apple Intelligence settings page shows a message about language support, change the language there and restart the setup.

Siri also needs to match. In Settings, open Apple Intelligence and Siri, then tap Language and pick English (Canada) if it is offered. This keeps Siri’s answers and the new features in step with each other.

Step 3: Try Writing Tools

Writing Tools is the easiest feature to try first. Open any app where you can type, such as Mail, Notes or Messages. Select some text you have written, then tap Writing Tools in the menu that appears.

You will see options to proofread, rewrite, and change the tone. Proofread fixes spelling and grammar. Rewrite gives you a fresh version of the same text. Friendly, Professional and Concise change the tone to suit the reader. There is also a Summarise option for long passages and a Key Points option that pulls out the main ideas.

Try it on a real email before you trust it on an important one. The rewrites are usually solid, but they can change the meaning of a sentence if your original wording is unclear. Read the result before you send it.

Step 4: Use notification summaries

Notification summaries are one of the most useful everyday features. Instead of a pile of separate alerts, your iPhone groups notifications from the same app and shows a short summary of what they say.

You can turn this on in Settings under Notifications, then Summarise Notifications. Pick the apps you want summarised, such as Mail and Messages, and leave the rest alone. News apps are a good test case, since a stack of headlines turns into one or two lines.

Keep in mind that summaries can occasionally get a detail wrong, especially with messages that use sarcasm or slang. If a summary looks odd, tap it to open the full messages and check for yourself.

Step 5: Clean up photos with Clean Up

Open the Photos app and pick a photo with something you want to remove, such as a stranger in the background or a bin on the street. Tap Edit, then tap the Clean Up tool. Circle or brush over the object and the iPhone will fill in the background.

It works best on small objects against a plain background, such as sky, grass or a wall. It struggles with large objects and busy patterns, where the filled-in area can look smudged. If the result looks wrong, tap Undo and try a smaller area, or leave the photo as it is.

Step 6: Try the new Siri and ChatGPT

Siri is more flexible now. You can type to Siri by double-tapping the bottom edge of the screen, which is handy in quiet places. Siri also understands you better when you correct yourself mid-sentence, and it can keep track of what you were talking about across a couple of questions.

For harder questions, Siri can hand off to ChatGPT. The first time this happens, your iPhone will ask whether you want to allow it. You can use ChatGPT through Siri without an account, and Apple says your requests are not stored by OpenAI when you do. If you have a ChatGPT account, you can sign in from Settings to get more features.

To control this, go to Settings, then Apple Intelligence and Siri, then ChatGPT. You can turn the extension on or off, and choose whether Siri asks your permission each time before sending a question to ChatGPT.

Step 7: Check your privacy settings

Apple Intelligence is designed to process most requests on your device. For harder tasks, it uses Private Cloud Compute, which Apple says does not store your data. Even so, it is worth knowing what is switched on.

In Settings, open Apple Intelligence and Siri, then tap About Apple Intelligence and Privacy to see how your data is handled. If you share your iPhone with family, remember that features such as notification summaries show message content on the lock screen, so check your notification settings if that matters to you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which iPhones support Apple Intelligence in Canada?

You need an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 model or newer, running a recent version of iOS. Older iPhones do not support Apple Intelligence, even with the latest software update.

Is Apple Intelligence free on iPhone?

Yes, Apple Intelligence is included with a compatible iPhone and a recent iOS version. There is no extra charge for the built-in features. If you sign in to a ChatGPT account through Siri, that account’s own plan rules apply.

How do I turn off Apple Intelligence?

Open Settings, tap Apple Intelligence and Siri, and switch off Apple Intelligence. You can also turn off individual features, such as notification summaries, from their own settings pages without switching the whole system off.