‘Our survey highlights the need for strong governance, oversight, and thorough training to roll out responsible and secure AI adoption and embed best practices’
While the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools by government offices is progressing at a slow pace, public workers’ use of the technology is a cause for concern, according to a KPMG report.
Overall, just 22% of Canadian public sector organisations have adopted AI. Half of the public servants who use AI in their jobs rely on publicly available AI tools.
This is “exposing governments to potential risks including data privacy and security breaches, intellectual property theft, and exposure to biased or inaccurate information that can lead to legal and ethical issues,” says KPMG.
A third (33%) of these workers use private or proprietary AI tools provided by their employer, and 17% use both public and private AI tools.
While many companies report moderate to extensive AI use, few 25% have implemented fully operational AI governance programmes, according to a previous report.
‘AI anxiety is real’
Nearly seven in ten (69%) public servants at organisations that have implemented AI say "AI anxiety is real" within their organisation, according to a KPMG survey of 349 public servants in federal, provincial, and municipal governments across Canada, conducted July 10 to Aug. 14, 2025.
Their concerns include the following:
- job security
- ethical dilemmas
- privacy
- fake content
- deepfakes
- disinformation
Nearly 8 in 10 (77%) of all respondents say the fear of losing control over the AI system and the results of its work is a concern within their organisation.
Nearly nine in 10 (85%) employers believe that Canadians do not truly understand or have confidence in how the public service will develop and use AI.
"With public sector employees already adopting AI tools to carry out their job responsibilities, public sector organisations must accelerate their deployment of formal AI adoption policies," says Michael Klubal, national leader of Infrastructure, Government, and Healthcare for KPMG in Canada. "Our survey highlights the need for strong governance, oversight, and thorough training to roll out responsible and secure AI adoption and embed best practices. This approach will not only protect public trust and data but also strike a balance between innovation and accountability."
Only 7% of Canadian tech leaders consider their organizations to be advanced in AI implementation, a significantly lower figure than the 17% reported globally, according to a previous study.
AI policy and training
KPMG also notes that there are gaps around AI data policy strategy and training:
- 39% do not have, or are not aware of, a data policy that has been clearly communicated
- 49% do not have, or are not aware of, a data strategy that has been clearly communicated
- 60% say their public service employer organisation does not provide data literacy training
- 85% rate the level of AI literacy as "low" among public sector employees
- 82% rate the level as "low" for AI fluency (power users who confidently understand, question, and lead strategically around AI)
"Our survey points to a steep learning curve within the public service. The promise of AI is definitely there, but that's tempered by concerns over ethical implementation and governance oversight, with more than three quarters expressing fear of losing control over AI systems," says Ven Adamov, a partner and data analytics leader in KPMG in Canada's Risk Consulting practice.
Adamov points to the data around policy, strategy, and training, saying: "This presents a significant challenge and risk with implementing modern AI tools, which rely on and are granted access to vast amounts of organisational data and documents.”
Employees are still waiting for employers to provide them with the necessary training around AI, according to a previous TD report.
What does successful AI adoption look like?
According to experts at McKinsey & Company, business leaders should answer the following questions to fully take advantage of AI:
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Is your strategy ambitious enough? Do you want to transform your whole business? How can you reimagine traditional cost centres as value-driven functions? How do you gain a competitive advantage by investing in AI?
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What does successful AI adoption look like for your organisation? What success indicators will you use to evaluate whether your investments are yielding the desired ROI?
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What skills define an AI-native workforce? How can you create opportunities for employees to develop these skills on the job?
“This is the moment for leaders to set bold AI commitments and to meet employee needs with on-the-job training and human-centric development,” say McKinsey’s Hannah Mayer, Lareina Yee, Michael Chui, and Roger Roberts.
“As leaders and employees work together to reimagine their businesses from the bottom up, AI can evolve from a productivity enhancer into a transformative superpower—an effective partner that increases human agency. Leaders who can replace fear of uncertainty with imagination of possibility will discover new applications for AI, not only as a tool to optimise existing workflows but also as a catalyst to solve bigger business and human challenges.”
