Survey of Digital Technology and Internet Use, 2023
Released: 2024-09-17
The Survey of Digital Technology and Internet Use examines usage of various information and communication technologies (ICTs) by Canadian businesses and has been conducted biennially since 2019.
Use of artificial intelligence increases noticeably since 2021
With artificial intelligence (AI) technologies becoming more readily available to businesses and consumers alike, decision makers are increasingly interested in how these technologies are being used. In 2023, 7% of Canadian businesses with five or more employees used software or hardware with AI, an increase of 3 percentage points from 2021.
While AI technologies were much less likely to be used than many other ICTs overall in 2023, usage was more common in certain segments of the economy. The highest usage rate across sectors was in the information and cultural industries sector (26%), which also posted the largest increase (+13 percentage points) since 2021. When looking at usage by business size, large businesses (26%) were the most likely to use AI technologies in 2023, with the proportion increasing by 6 percentage points from 2021. In comparison, 8% of medium-sized (+2 percentage points) and 6% of small businesses (+3 percentage points) had used AI technologies in 2023.
Generative artificial intelligence is the most commonly used artificial intelligence technology
About 3 in 4 (73%) businesses using AI technologies used generative AI in 2023. This was the most commonly used type, followed by automatic speech recognition technologies (26%) and technologies that automate workflows or assist in decision making (25%). Nearly two-thirds of businesses using AI reported that these technologies were only used by a few employees (64%), while more than one-quarter (27%) said these technologies were used by a few teams or more.
Cloud computing is the most commonly used information and communication technology
In contrast to AI technologies, the most commonly used ICT in 2023 was cloud computing (48%), marking an increase of 3 percentage points from 2021. Businesses in the information and cultural industries sector were also the most likely to use cloud computing (81%) in 2023.
Chart 1
Information and communication technologies most commonly used by businesses, Canada, 2021 and 2023
Several digitalization indicators have stabilized or declined since 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many Canadian businesses to move more of their operations online. However, some digitalization indicators, while remaining at higher levels than prior to the pandemic, stabilized or fell since their pandemic peak.
In 2023, almost 1 in 3 (32%) Canadian businesses reported receiving e-commerce orders, about the same percentage as in 2021 (33%), but higher than in 2019 (25%). Stability among e-commerce sellers was observed across all business sizes since 2021. E-commerce sales totalled $347 billion across the economy in 2023; statistically, this was not significantly different from 2021 ($398 billion) or 2019 ($305 billion). Sectors with primarily business-to-business sales continued to dominate the total in 2023.
The percentage of businesses offering employees the option to telework (28%) in 2023 was also higher than in 2019 (19%), but lower than in 2021 (33%). Nearly two-thirds (64%) of large businesses offered telework in 2023, a decrease of 10 percentage points from 2021. Meanwhile, close to half (45%) of medium-sized businesses (-8 percentage points) and almost one-quarter (23%) of small businesses (-4 percentage points) offered telework in 2023.
Digital economy and society statistics portal and publications
For more information on the digital economy and society, visit the Digital economy and society statistics portal and the Digital Insights publication, which bring together a variety of data from across Statistics Canada and other sources to provide statistics, analysis and interactive tools related to the digital economy and society in Canada.
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Note to readers
Data for the 2023 Survey of Digital Technology and Internet Use (SDTIU) were collected from November 2023 to March 2024. Respondents were asked to only report activities that occurred in 2023.
The target population of the 2023 SDTIU included enterprises with Canadian operations, from most economic sectors, based on Statistics Canada's Business Register. The final sample size was approximately 10,000 enterprises and the response rate was 61%.
For consistency with previous releases from the SDTIU, the population examined in this release was limited to businesses with five or more employees. In 2023, the SDTIU also sampled businesses with one to four employees (micro-size businesses). Figures for micro-size businesses do not appear in this release but are available in the data tables published for the 2023 SDTIU.
The business size categories presented in this release are based on the number of full-time employees that enterprises reported having on the survey. Small, medium-sized and large businesses have at least five employees.
- Small businesses have 19 or fewer full-time employees.
- Medium-sized businesses have 20 to 99 full-time employees, except for medium-sized manufacturing businesses, which have 20 to 499 full-time employees.
- Large businesses have 100 or more full-time employees, except for large manufacturing businesses, which have 500 or more full-time employees.
In 2023, the SDTIU's target population included approximately 10,000 large, 63,000 medium-sized and 293,000 small businesses.
Iterations of the SDTIU conducted before 2023 did not use the term "generative artificial intelligence (AI)" as they were developed before the increased commercial availability of generative AI products like ChatGPT. Since the concept of generative AI overlaps with other AI technologies that were included in previous survey iterations, comparisons of usage of specific types of AI technologies over time should be made with caution.
Percentages published in this release represent a percentage of businesses, unless otherwise stated. All estimates were weighted to be representative of the target population.
Definitions
Artificial intelligence technologies are systems that display intelligent behaviour by gathering or using data to predict, recommend or decide, with varying levels of autonomy, the best action to achieve specific goals. AI technologies can be purely software-based or embedded in a device.
E-commerce sales refer to all sales of a business's goods or services where orders were received, and the commitment to purchase was made, over the Internet. Payment can be made by other means. E-commerce sales include business-to-consumer transactions as well as business-to-business transactions.
Contact information
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