Canadians are increasingly convinced that AI is becoming a permanent part of the workplace, but many admit they are exaggerating their own skills to keep pace, according to TD Bank Group's 2026 AI Insights Report.
The survey found that 78% of respondents believe workplace AI adoption is inevitable, yet 75% rate their own AI skills a "C" or lower, and only 4% give themselves an "A." Nearly one in three, or 32%, admitted to exaggerating their AI skills at work, and just 37% said they had received adequate AI training from their employer.
Boomers were the age group most likely to see workplace AI adoption as inevitable, at 89%, ahead of Gen X (81%), Millennials (79%) and Gen Z (65%). More than half of respondents, 53%, said their own workplace was lagging behind others on AI adoption.
Luke Gee, senior vice president and chief analytics and AI officer at TD Bank, said the gap between enthusiasm and confidence reflects how new the technology still feels to many workers.
"AI is becoming more prevalent across the world of work but for many people it still feels new and unfamiliar," he said. "The pace of change can feel fast, and it's natural that confidence takes time to catch up."
Despite the confidence gap, most respondents reported tangible benefits from using AI at work: 59% said it made them more productive, and 58% said it gave them a competitive edge over peers in similar roles.
The pressure TD describes is particularly relevant to insurance, one of the sectors already furthest along on AI adoption in Canada. Statistics Canada data showed finance and insurance businesses reported a 40.4% AI adoption rate as of Q2 2026, second only to information and cultural industries.
That places the sector ahead of the general skills-confidence curve TD's survey describes, but it does not mean the underlying skills gap has closed, or that governance has kept pace with adoption.
That gap now carries direct regulatory weight. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) released a bulletin in July 2026 on generative and agentic AI, setting out sound practices for federally regulated institutions, insurers included, to manage the technology's operational and cyber risks. OSFI has also finalized Guideline E-23 on model risk management, effective May 2027, which extends model governance requirements to AI and machine learning systems across all federally regulated insurers for the first time.
Both build on OSFI's warning that when senior managers do not fully understand the AI systems their institutions deploy, they risk leaning too heavily on vendor assessments rather than their own oversight, a concern that lines up closely with TD's finding that many employees already present themselves as more AI-fluent than they feel.
The stakes are compounded by Canada's existing insurance talent pressures. Aviva Canada's Nav Dhillon identified workforce transformation as "a defining challenge in 2026, a critical talent gap intensified by the rise of artificial intelligence," warning that AI is changing how entry-level roles build the judgment and experience senior underwriters and claims professionals have traditionally developed over a career.
If employees are overstating their AI skills to keep up, as TD's survey suggests, insurers relying on AI-literate staff to meet OSFI's new governance expectations may be working from a less accurate picture of internal readiness than they assume.
TD said employers have an opportunity to build employee confidence by investing in structured training and support rather than assuming adoption will resolve on its own.
Melanie Burns, senior executive vice-president and chief human resources officer at TD Bank, said organizations that prioritize skills development will be better positioned as AI use expands.
"The future of work will require organizations to help people develop new skills as technology evolves," she said. "Those that prioritize learning and equip employees with the right tools and support will ensure their people thrive."
For insurers already ahead of the broader Canadian economy on AI adoption, and now facing OSFI's tightening governance timeline, the TD findings suggest that closing the skills-confidence gap is becoming a compliance issue as much as a productivity one.
