Rising concerns about the impact of new technologies on employment

One of the original goals of the Survey on Employment and Skills, launched in 2020, was to explore experiences with the changing nature of work in Canada, including technology-driven disruptions.

In the past few years, evidence has appeared suggesting that concerns about the implications of technological change may be growing. According to the most recent survey waves, growing proportion of workers are now expressing concern with the pace of change in general, and more specifically with the prospect of automation leading to unemployment. This bulletin, based on the eighth survey wave conducted in the spring of 2025, documents this change and explores its possible causes.

The growing concern about technological changes coincides with two main developments: a worsening economic outlook in general, and widening experiences with artificial intelligence. It is possible that workers are feeling more pessimistic about new technologies simply because they are feeling more pessimistic in general about their employment prospects as the economy slows. Our analysis suggests, however, that this is not the most important factor. Rather, there is a stronger relationship between familiarity with, and use of, artificial intelligence programs, and concern about the impact of new technologies on employment.

Read the complete report.

This bulletin was prepared using research and analysis conducted by Hubert Cadieux and Alexandre Boullion, graduate students in the Department of Political Science at Université Laval.

For more information, contact Dr. Andrew Parkin.

The Survey on Employment and Skills is conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University and the Future Skills Centre. Wave 8 of the survey of 5,603 adult Canadians was conducted online (in the provinces) and by telephone (in the territories) between March 12 and April 15, 2025.

The Survey on Employment and Skills is funded primarily by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre / Le sondage sur l’emploi et les compétences est financé principalement par le Centre des Compétences futures du gouvernement du Canada.