- If AI delivers on its potential, Canada's GDP could see a 9% increase over baseline projections.
- Global megatrends such as climate change, geopolitical shifts and AI are reshaping the economy and creating new avenues for Canadian businesses to collaborate across sectors.
- Sectors such as mining, technology and defence are key areas of opportunity for Canada, and we must act quickly to capitalize on these areas and remove the obstacles that have inhibited Canada's prospects in the last several decades.
TORONTO, Sept. 24, 2025 /CNW/ - New research published today by PwC Canada reveals that the country has the potential to grow to a $3.65 trillion GDP economy over the next decade, but only if Canada closes its significant AI adoption gap.
PwC's Value in Motion: Canada's Moment to Capture New Growth report, uses data driven scenarios to provide industry leading insights about how global megatrends—such as climate change, demographic shifts, and AI—are sparking a reconfiguration of entire industries, blurring traditional sector boundaries, and putting a staggering amount of value in motion – and at risk.
"The structure of our economy is transforming, and the pressure on businesses to reinvent themselves is the highest we have seen in years," said Nochane Rousseau, National Managing Partner at PwC Canada. "Traditional industries are being reconfigured into new "domains of growth" that address fundamental human needs. This moment presents a powerful opportunity for Canadian businesses to reinvent their models, collaborate across sectors to build competitive advantages, and break through traditional barriers to compete - and win - in new sectors."
The report's most optimistic scenario finds that if AI delivers on its potential, Canada's GDP could see a 9% increase over baseline expectations by 2035. However, this growth falls short of the 14% boost projected for the US, largely due to Canada's lower AI uptake, which is currently about three-quarters of US adoption. The report indicates that lagging adoption of AI and other advanced technologies could leave Canadian companies more vulnerable to disruption from outside the country's borders.
The report outlines several sectors that are key areas of opportunity for Canada:
- Mining: Global demand for minerals mined from the earth is surging, and Canada has a strategic advantage in many of the minerals the world needs. The Canadian mining sector can capitalize on this by providing secure, alternative sources of critical minerals, especially in a world with shifting trade relationships and geopolitical alliances. This requires embracing strategic partnerships and adopting technologies like AI and quantum computing to enhance efficiency and accelerate project development.
- Technology: While Canada had early advantages in AI, a key opportunity comes from another emerging technology: quantum computing. Quantum chips can solve problems at a high level of detail while using far less electricity than current technologies, making them critical for enabling AI solutions given their immense power needs. By scaling and commercializing quantum solutions, Canada can capture a competitive advantage.
- Defence: Increased defence spending and the need to replace outdated military equipment are creating significant demand for everything from raw materials to advanced technologies. The growth of dual-use technologies—which serve both defence and civilian markets, such as critical minerals and cybersecurity solutions—presents a significant opportunity for manufacturers to adapt and serve new markets.
The report also provides recommendations for both Canadian businesses and governments to capture the value of AI.
"Business leaders must rethink how they create and deliver value by working with other players and deeply integrating technologies like AI," said Chris Mar, Partner and AI, Tech and Data Leader at PwC Canada. "Policies that make Canada more attractive to workers with skills in AI and quantum computing are critical. A focus on building public trust in AI is also paramount, as adoption is inseparable from trust and security."
PwC continues to evolve to help clients unlock and protect value
As technology and other megatrends continue to transform the economy, PwC is unveiling a set of actions it is taking to help clients unlock the value of enterprise AI at scale, including:
- PwC's agent OS: PwC's agent OS enables a structural shift in how enterprises can orchestrate AI at scale, seamlessly connecting and scaling intelligent agents into business-ready workflows up to 10x faster than traditional methods. As client-zero, the network is leveraging it within its own processes, with thousands of AI agents deployed for specific tasks integrated into workflows to deliver productivity gains across tax, assurance and advisory services to clients.
- AI expertise: Each month, tens of thousands of PwC people are taking part in regularly updated training programmes through the Network AI Academy. Already, 291,000 PwC partners and staff have taken part in structured AI training. PwC Canada has invested $200M over three years to become an AI-powered firm, leveraging key partnerships with Microsoft and other strategic alliances. We prove what works inside PwC first and share those bold learnings with clients, meeting them where they are and turning proven GenAI practices into faster, safer solutions to their most important challenges.
- New technology alliances: Since the start of December, PwC has unveiled new collaborations with existing alliance partners: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, SAP and Oracle. This adds to PwC's existing extensive set of alliance activities, which also includes Adobe, Anthropic, Guidewire, OpenAI, Salesforce and Workday amongst others.
Note: All figures are in 2022 Canadian dollars. For further background on the research, see "Value in motion: Methodology" (PDF).
About PwC Canada:
At PwC Canada, we help clients build trust and reinvent so they can turn complexity into competitive advantage. We're a tech-forward, people-empowered network with more than 7,000 partners and staff in offices across the country. Across audit and assurance, tax and legal, deals and consulting, we help build, accelerate and sustain momentum.
PwC refers to the Canadian member firm and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. Find out more by visiting us at: http://www.pwc.com/ca
© 2025 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved.
SOURCE PwC Management Services LP
For media inquiries, please contact: Anuja Kale-Agarwal, National Communications Director, PwC Canada, [email protected]
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