Canadians Now See AI as One of the Biggest Threats to the Country, Poll Finds

Artificial intelligence has become one of the things Canadians worry about most. A new poll from Abacus Data finds that 26 percent of Canadians now name AI as a threat to the country, up from just 10 percent in April 2026. That puts AI second only to Donald Trump and the United States in the survey, a striking change in six months. The shift lands just as the federal government is doubling down on AI, with Budget 2026 promising billions for the technology and for the data centres that power it.

The timing makes the gap hard to ignore. Ottawa sees AI as a driver of growth and prosperity. A growing share of the public sees it as a risk to jobs, to their communities and to the country itself.

What the poll found

Abacus Data asked Canadians to pick the threats they see facing the country. AI now ranks as the second most frequently selected threat in the survey, behind only Trump and the United States. Abacus chief executive David Colletto wrote ahead of the budget that AI is becoming a much more prominent part of how Canadians think about risks to their quality of life and the future of the country.

The numbers tell the story of a sharp swing. In April 2026, one in ten Canadians picked AI as a threat. By November, that figure had risen to more than one in four. The rise cuts across party lines. The survey finds AI is now the number two most cited threat by nearly one third of Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois voters.

The poll also suggests the government is out of step with its own supporters on the issue. Among Canadians who strongly approve of the Carney government, 78 percent name Trump and the United States as a leading threat, and 36 percent select artificial intelligence.

What Budget 2026 promises for AI

The 2026 federal budget, tabled on November 5, makes AI a central part of the government's economic plan. The budget document mentions AI and data centres more than 130 times, and it describes frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence as one of the forces reshaping the global economy. It predicts ongoing investment in AI infrastructure will drive Canada's economic growth for the rest of the decade.

In total, the budget's fiscal tables identify 2.6 billion dollars in spending tied explicitly to AI-related programs. That includes the government's AI for All strategy and plans to transform the public service with AI. The budget also highlights other AI investments, including the recent 1.6 billion dollar equity stake in Cohere, the Toronto-founded AI company.

The government is also offering billions in corporate subsidies for the industry. Tech companies will be able to deduct the costs of equipment in data centres, and the budget includes tax breaks for tech entrepreneurs and investors.

Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, a researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, told The Watchdog that the budget underlines the Carney government's very ideological commitment to AI adoption. He added that the federal government has been a big booster of the industry, but that there is not a lot of evidence yet that these investments will deliver the productivity and prosperity that AI promises.

Why the public mood is shifting

The poll results did not appear out of nowhere. Across Canada, opposition to data centres is growing at the grassroots level. In small rural Albertan communities, residents have pushed back against plans for hyperscale data centres, and Premier Danielle Smith is devising plans to power a network of them with oil and gas. People living near proposed sites worry about water use, electricity bills and the strain on local power grids.

Similar worries are showing up south of the border, and they may be shaping opinion here too. In this week's United States midterm elections, voters in several places passed moratoriums on data centres in response to growing grassroots opposition, including in rural and conservative communities. In Texas, incoming Democratic governor-elect Gino Hinojosa has pledged to ban construction of data centres across the state until new laws are passed ensuring operators hire unionized workers, protect community water supplies and do not drive up electrical bills.

AI company stocks have fallen following the United States midterm vote, as political backlash and the threat of public interest regulations, along with the industry's ongoing struggle to generate profits, make AI a less attractive bet for investors.

Canada may be less exposed than the United States

There is one piece of good news for Canada in all of this. Mertins-Kirkwood notes that Canada is ironically in a pretty good position to weather an AI stock crash, given that the investments the federal government announced are pretty small in the grand scheme of things and that most planned data centres are still early in the proposal stage. Canada is not nearly as vulnerable to this downturn as the United States and some other countries, he said.

That relative safety does not change the political problem. The government is definitely out of line with Canadian public opinion, Mertins-Kirkwood said. He added that he is curious what it will take for the federal government to change its tune, because it has been pretty consistent on AI for the last year and a half.

The question now is whether the government adjusts. As more evidence comes in and opposition keeps growing, the pressure to change course will only build. For now, Ottawa is betting billions that AI will pay off. A quarter of Canadians, and rising, are betting the other way.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Canadians now see AI as a threat?

According to Abacus Data polling, 26 percent of Canadians now identify AI as a threat to the country, up from 10 percent in April 2026. AI ranks as the second most frequently selected threat in the survey, behind only Trump and the United States.

How much is Budget 2026 spending on AI?

The budget's fiscal tables identify 2.6 billion dollars in spending tied explicitly to AI-related programs, including the AI for All strategy and plans to transform the public service with AI. The budget also highlights the government's 1.6 billion dollar equity stake in Cohere.

Why are Canadians turning against AI?

The poll points to growing concern about data centres, jobs and the cost of the AI buildout, along with grassroots opposition to new data centre projects in communities across Canada and the United States. Supporters of the Carney government are also more worried about AI than the government's own plans suggest.