TLDR: A recent OpenMedia survey, conducted in August 2025 with over 3,000 respondents, indicates a strong public demand in Canada for comprehensive and proactive AI regulations. Canadians express significant concerns over AI’s potential risks, including misinformation, fraud, surveillance, and its impact on privacy, creators’ rights, and environmental sustainability. The survey highlights a desire for stricter rules, particularly in high-risk sectors, and a call for the government to prioritize a ‘people-first’ approach to AI governance amidst a perceived lack of clear regulatory action.
A recent survey by OpenMedia, a non-profit organization advocating for digital rights, has revealed an overwhelming consensus among Canadians for the implementation of proactive and robust regulations concerning artificial intelligence. The survey, conducted in August 2025 and gathering 3,020 responses from across Canada, underscores a deep-seated public anxiety regarding the unchecked proliferation of AI technologies and their potential societal impacts.
Canadians are reportedly far more apprehensive about the risks associated with AI than its potential benefits. Key concerns highlighted include the spread of misinformation, increased fraud, pervasive surveillance, and the broader implications for individual rights and privacy. The survey also brought to light significant worries about AI’s impact on creative industries, the sovereignty of Canadian data, and the environmental footprint of AI infrastructure.
The call for regulation is clear: 95% of respondents believe that industries deemed ‘high-risk’ should be subjected to more stringent regulations regarding their development and use of AI. Specifically, government and law enforcement (83%), news and media (84%), and healthcare (71%) were identified as the top sectors requiring stricter oversight. Furthermore, a substantial 77% of respondents expressed that AI systems should not be permitted to train on copyrighted materials, reflecting widespread concern for creators’ rights.
This sentiment aligns with broader national polls, including a Leger poll from August 2025, which found that 85% of Canadians favor government regulation of AI tools to ensure ethical and safe use. Despite this strong public demand, Canada’s regulatory landscape for AI remains largely undeveloped. As of September 2025, no new comprehensive laws have been adopted. The previous attempt, the AI and Data Act (AIDA) within Bill C-27, failed to pass in early 2025. While Canada appointed its first AI minister, Evan Solomon, in June 2025, the current government’s ‘economy first’ agenda has been criticized for lacking a clear strategy to address critical AI-related issues such as privacy, oversight, and equity.
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The OpenMedia survey emphasizes that Canadians are not merely seeking regulation for innovation’s sake but are insisting on a ‘people-first’ approach that prioritizes rights, privacy, sustainability, and public accountability in Canada’s first AI regulation bill. This reflects a broader trend of increasing privacy concerns among Canadians, with a May 2025 survey by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) indicating that 90% of Canadians are concerned about their privacy when engaging with online activities and AI tools.
