Deloitte surveyed 804 senior business executives across Canada from September 7 to October 11, 2022. Respondents included executives from both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations of varying sizes and economic sectors, as well as governments, Crown corporations, and other public sector organizations.

The survey explored the current state of digital investment in Canadian organizations, as well as the challenges leaders have faced in the course of adopting new digital technologies. The following slides offer a deeper look ₁ into the survey results by organization type, size, region, and economic sector.

Digital investment plans
 

• Non-profits and public sector organizations seem to be in a period of digital acceleration, with 50% of non-profit respondents and 52% of public sector respondents reporting that their organization is actively investing in becoming more digital.
• Small and medium enterprise (SME) respondents were twice as likely as respondents from large organizations to report that they are in the planning stage of a digital transformation, while nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents from large organizations report they are actively investing in becoming more digital.
• Like non-profits and public sector organizations, the manufacturing sector appears to be having a digital moment, with over half (51%) of manufacturing respondents reporting that their organization is actively investing in becoming more digital. With another 24% of them reporting that their organization is planning to invest in becoming more digital within the next one to three years, the combined share of executives who are actively investing or planning to invest among manufacturing respondents is 75%.

Notes:
Region does not have a significant relationship with digital investment plans. If you are interested in seeing the regional cut of this data. Please write to us at futureofcanada@deloitte.ca.

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Digital adoption challenges
 

• While respondents across organization types rated the cost of software licences/subscriptions as a top challenge, non-profit respondents were most likely to describe it as a great challenge (42%). Respondents from governments, Crown corporations, and other public sector organizations were most likely to describe a lack of leadership willingness to invest as a great challenge (18%).
• Leadership unwillingness to invest in digital technologies is a bigger challenge for respondents from medium and large organizations (100+ employees) than small and micro organizations (<100 employees). For respondents from small organizations, the cost of software licences/subscriptions is the greatest challenge.
• Respondents from organizations in the Prairies were by far the most likely to describe the cost of software licences/subscriptions as a great challenge (45%).
• For all sectors except finance and insurance, the cost of software licences/subscriptions was the greatest challenge. Manufacturing respondents were the most likely to indicate this, with over a third (35%) describing it as a great challenge. They were also most likely to consider uncertainty about which digital tools would benefit their organization as a great challenge, with one-third (33%) of manufacturing respondents describing it as such.

Notes:
These visualizations depict the percentage of respondents who indicated a given challenge was somewhat or very challenging; percentages of respondents who indicated a given challenge was not challenging, who responded “Unsure,” or who did not respond are excluded.

There is no significant relationship between organization size and the challenges of “Uncertainty about which digital tools would benefit the organization,” “Difficulty choosing between competing technologies/providers,” and “Cost of software licences/subscriptions.”

Digital skills diffusion across the workforce
 

• Respondents from all organization types indicated that many of their employees lack the ability to “identify digital skills gaps and seek out learning opportunities” and “solve technical problems and customize tech to suit user needs.”
• A marked majority of respondents from the finance and insurance sector reported that most of their employees had the skills to “use digital devices and basic software applications,” “search for and evaluate information online,” and “communicate/collaborate with colleagues online.” By contrast, only around half of manufacturing and real estate/construction respondents reported that most of their employees had these skills.

Notes:
Totals may not add up to 100% as “Unsure” responses are excluded.

Charts for digital skills diffusion by organization size and region are excluded because the differences are minimal and there is no significant relationship between digital skills diffusion and organization size for any of the skills listed. There is a significant relationship between digital skills diffusion and region for two of the seven skills listed: “use digital devices and basic software applications” and “search for and evaluate information online.” To see the size and/or regional cut of this data, please write to futureofcanada@deloitte.ca.

Responses to this question from non-profit, manufacturing, and finance and insurance respondents are excluded from the visualizations due to small sample sizes.

Challenges experienced in hiring digitally skilled talent
 

• While organizations of all sizes are challenged to hire digitally skilled workers, hiring challenges are particularly acute for large organizations, with 27% of these respondents saying hiring staff with foundational digital skills is a great challenge and 28% saying hiring staff with specialized digital skills is a great challenge.
• Respondents in the Prairies, British Columbia, and Ontario were more likely than respondents in other regions to indicate that hiring workers with foundational digital skills is challenging; however, organizations in Quebec were most likely to describe this as a great challenge (18%).
• While hiring challenges exist across sectors, hiring staff with foundational digital skills was characterized as a great challenge for respondents in manufacturing (29%) and the public sector (20%). Leaders in the public sector were also the most likely to say hiring for specialized digital skills is a great challenge (21%).

Notes:
The visualizations only depict the percentage of respondents who indicated a given challenge was somewhat or very challenging; percentages of respondents who indicated a given challenge was not challenging, who responded “Unsure,” or who did not respond are excluded.

Irrespective of organization type, more than half of all organizations we surveyed said it is either somewhat challenging or a great challenge to hire staff with foundational digital skills. To see the cut of this data by organization type, please write to futureofcanada@deloitte.ca.

Region does not have a statistically significant relationship with challenges experienced hiring staff with specialized digital skills. To see the regional cut of this data, please write to us at futureofcanada@deloitte.ca.

Legend

Organization type: Survey responses by legal structure of the respondent’s organization. Our analysis excludes sole proprietorships, partnerships, and self-employed individuals.

• Corporations
• Not-for-profit organizations (“non-profits”)
• Governments, Crown corporations, and other public sector organizations

Size: Survey responses by size of the respondent’s organization based on number of employees.

• Micro: <10 employees
• Small: 10–99 employees
• Medium: 100–499 employees
• Large: 500+ employees

Region: Survey responses by region where the respondent’s organization is headquartered. Responses from Atlantic Canada are not reported due to small sample size. Responses from the following regions are included:

• British Columbia
• Alberta
• Prairies
• Ontario
• Quebec

Sector: Survey responses by economic sector of the respondent’s organization based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Responses from the following sectors are included, except where otherwise noted:

• Manufacturing
• Finance and insurance
• Real estate and construction
• Services (includes information, professional, company management, administrative, arts, accommodation, and other services)
• Public (includes utilities, education, health, public administration, and other public sector organizations)

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You can find the highlights and an in-depth analysis in the report.