Canadian Businesses Are Spending 12 Times More on AI Than Two Years Ago, New Float Data Shows

Canada's AI Spending Snapshot finds AI bringing new challenges around cost, predictability and governance

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Canadian businesses are dramatically increasing their investment in artificial intelligence, with new transaction data from Float showing that the same businesses are spending roughly 12 times more on AI than they were two years ago.

Canada's AI Spending Snapshot 2026 analyzes anonymized transaction data from more than 10,000 Canadian businesses using Float, providing a view into how companies are actually spending on AI.

Among a consistent cohort of businesses active on Float in both August 2024 and August 2026, monthly AI spending increased more than twelve-fold. Adoption widened alongside it: 47 per cent of those businesses now purchase at least one AI product, up from 27 per cent two years earlier, with a median annual spend of $92 per employee.

"Companies aren't sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how AI plays out. They're trying tools, finding what works and, increasingly, spending more as they put those tools to work across their businesses," said Rob Khazzam, CEO and Co-Founder of Float. "To call the past two years uncertain for Canadian business would be an understatement, and in a climate like this, discretionary spending usually slows. AI has done the opposite, a sign of how essential these tools have already become."

AI spending is growing and becoming harder to predict

Unlike traditional enterprise software, AI is increasingly tied to usage and consumption. More than 70 per cent of AI-buying businesses experienced at least one month in which spending spiked by more than 50 per cent. AI spending was also approximately three times more volatile than Slack spending and roughly twice as volatile as Microsoft software spending.

Businesses are building AI stacks, not choosing a single winner

The average AI buyer purchased from 2.71 AI vendors over the past year, and the share buying from four or more vendors has more than doubled. Among businesses paying for either ChatGPT or Claude, approximately 51 per cent now pay for both, up from just 13 per cent two years ago.

A new challenge for finance teams

The rise of AI is also introducing financial and administrative challenges that extend beyond the cost of the technology itself. Approximately 77 per cent of AI spending among businesses on Float is billed in U.S. dollars, exposing the large majority of AI purchases to currency conversion fees.

"AI can be adopted by an individual employee or team almost overnight, but the financial implications quickly become much broader," added Khazzam. "As businesses scale their use of AI, finance teams need visibility into what they're buying, how costs convert to local currency and who is accountable for managing that spend."

AI adoption is spreading beyond the technology sector

While software companies remain the heaviest AI users, meaningful adoption is now visible across education, finance, manufacturing, retail, construction and other sectors. Along with a growing number of new industries, AI purchasing has also increased across every province measured over the past year. This tells us that today, spending on AI tools is the new normal for Canadian businesses across all provinces and sectors.

"The next chapter of the AI story will not only be about what the technology can do," said Khazzam. "It will be about how Canadian businesses put AI to work, how they manage it, and whether it starts to separate the companies that master it from the ones that don't."

Canada's AI Spending Snapshot is Float's first report in an ongoing annual pulse check on the way Canadian businesses are investing in AI.

Read the full report: https://floatfinancial.com/canada-ai-spending-report

About Float

Float is Canada’s intelligent financial operating system, combining modern financial services and software to help businesses spend, save, and grow. Trusted by more than 10,000 Canadian companies, Float provides high-limit corporate cards, automated expense management, next-day bill payments, high-yield accounts, and industry-leading support, all built in Canada, for Canada. Float is backed by world-class investors, including Inovia Capital, Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, OMERS Ventures, and Silicon Valley Bank. To learn more, visit floatfinancial.com.