Why Most Vancouver Businesses That Have Not Adopted AI Say The Same Thing
Seventy-eight percent of Canadian businesses that have not adopted AI say the technology is not relevant to them. They are asking the wrong question.
Keith Donoghue
Seventy-eight percent of Canadian businesses that have not adopted AI say the technology is not relevant to them. They are asking the wrong question.
By Keith Donoghue | Vancouver City News | July 28, 2026
Editor: Karalee Greer
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A Vancouver contractor is asked why he has not adopted AI in his business. His answer is immediate. His jobs are too specific. Every project is different. Pricing depends on access, materials, and conditions that change from site to site. He does not see how a generic tool could handle it.
He is right about his jobs. He is wrong about the starting point.
According to Statistics Canada, 78 percent of Canadian businesses that have not adopted AI report that they do not see how the technology benefits the goods or services they provide. The contractor’s answer is the majority answer across the country. It is also a misread of what adoption actually requires at the start.
The Starting Point Most Owners Miss
The misconception is about scope. Most owners imagine applying AI to the part of the operation that defines what they do. The contractor imagines AI trying to price a complex renovation. That is not the starting point.
The starting point is the email he sends to three suppliers every Monday requesting material quotes. It is the follow-up he sends on Wednesday when two of them have not replied. It is the invoice reminder that goes out two weeks after a job closes.
None of those tasks vary by project. None of them require knowledge of site conditions or material specifications. All of them repeat on a predictable schedule. All of them currently sit in the contractor’s inbox waiting for him to find time.
The barrier is not that AI cannot help a construction business. It is that the entry point is not where most owners are looking.
The business-defining work is complex and variable. The operational layer around it is often none of those things.
That operational layer is where adoption starts. The 78 percent who say AI is not relevant are not wrong about their core work. They are looking at the wrong part of the business.
Keith Donoghue | Vancouver City News Keith Donoghue is the founder of Highridge AI Consulting, helping Vancouver small businesses reduce manual work and run more efficient operations.
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