AI has the potential to reshape the labour market by automating some tasks for many workers. Even though evidence of a significant impact on the labour market remains limited, AI appears to be making it harder for some Canadians to find work in occupations that are most exposed to it.

Discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) and jobs often focus on whether this technology will replace human workers. These concerns are understandable given how fast AI capabilities have been improving.

But in reality, the effects of AI on jobs and the labour market are more nuanced.

AI is unlikely to cause most jobs to disappear entirely. Instead, it’s more likely to reshape how workers perform their jobs, automating some tasks and simplifying others while still leaving a portion of tasks largely unaffected. The amount of change may hinge on a job’s exposure to AI, which is based on the tasks typically performed in each role.

Our analysis of how AI is affecting jobs suggests that AI has not yet led to broad changes in the overall structure of the labour market. But it is affecting specific tasks within some occupations, and this may be influencing hiring needs. Our analysis shows that job seekers may be finding it more difficult than it was in 2019 to secure employment in occupations that are now the most exposed to AI.

These results are only signals. They’re not definitive about what is happening or will happen, because the future of AI is highly uncertain.

How we measure the exposure of Canadian jobs to artificial intelligence

Every job can be broken down into a series of tasks that workers do. A job’s exposure to AI, therefore, reflects the extent to which AI—based on its current capabilities—could affect those tasks.

This is what is captured in the Generated Index of Occupational Exposure (GENOE). One of the reasons we use GENOE in our analysis is that it incorporates ethical and regulatory considerations. For example, the work of judges is technically highly exposed to AI, but relying solely on AI for legal rulings would be considered unethical—especially if AI reproduces any biases that may exist in the data it is trained on.

We adapt GENOE to Canada’s National Occupational Classification system to produce AI exposure scores based on domestic data. Our analysis begins with 2015, when advances in AI capabilities and adoption started to accelerate.

The results of our analysis reveal that the average AI‑exposure score in Canada in 2025 was 0.29. This suggests that close to one‑third of jobs may undergo substantial changes due to AI integration, given today’s AI capabilities. Exposure is highest in occupations like receptionists and accountants, where most tasks are routine, codifiable and consist of information processing (Table 1). Exposure is lowest in occupations that rely more heavily on judgment, physical interactions or highly specialized human skills—for example, jobs in health care and skilled trades.