AI will drive growth at lower headcount, CEOs believe

“As productivity gains begin to materialize, I’m seeing the conversation shift from efficiency to value,” said Shane Dunn, managing partner at EY-Parthenon Canada in Toronto. “An overwhelming majority of Canadian CEOs indicate they can measurably demonstrate a return from AI investments, with the primary productivity measure being higher output without additional headcount or capital.”

Where is the AI investment?

The global October 2026 report finds that four in five CEOs worldwide believe AI will have a greater effect on roles, skills, and how work is organized than on workforce size over the next three years. EY-Parthenon’s Spring 2026 Canada CEO Outlook – covering 50 Canadian executives polled in March and April 2026 – shows 80% of Canadian CEOs planned to increase AI spending this year, with none reporting plans to cut it.

In that spring Canadian survey, AI capital was split roughly evenly across efficiency automation, complex workflow restructuring, quality improvement, and business model innovation. Among Canadian respondents, reskilling and upskilling existing employees was ranked among the top two expected workforce impacts by 46%; redesigning roles to combine human and AI capabilities was cited by 34%; and reducing hiring in certain roles by just 20%.

That ambition runs ahead of readiness. As reported in HRD Canada’s analysis of how Canadian provinces are spending on AI workforce training in 2026, government reskilling investment has been uneven, and Ottawa’s national AI strategy, released in June 2026, found less than 15% of Canadian businesses currently use AI to produce goods or services.

The skills gap and what economists say

That gap shows up at the employee level too. As covered in HRD Canada’s report on Canada’s widening AI skills gap, a 2026 Ipsos survey on behalf of TD Bank Group found only 4% of Canadian respondents rated themselves highly proficient in AI.