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Top HR trends shaping the Canadian workplace in 2026
Get Canadian workforce data and practical action frameworks to help your team respond to the trends shaping today’s workplace.
Infographic Top trends and priorities for 2026
Small, midsized and large Canadian employers are navigating change driven by shifting people priorities, evolving compliance requirements and advances in technology. Each organization faces unique pressures based on size and industry. They share the same overarching need to support their people, manage risk responsibly and use artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance their workplace.
This article explores the top HR trends shaping the Canadian workplace in 2026, organized across the three areas of focus: people, compliance and technology. For more trends, workforce data and practical action frameworks, download the full Canada workplace trends for 2026 guidebook.
Top HR trends
People trends
- Employee experience setting the standard for 2026
- Organizations are assessing their skills inventories
- AI in talent management and skills development
Compliance trends
- Countries are regulating the use of AI in employment decisions
- Pay transparency requirements are expanding across the country and globally
- Data privacy, paid leave and payroll taxes are top compliance hurdles
Technology trends
- Agentic AI is emerging as a core HCM capability
- Ethical management of employee and company data is rising in importance
- HR and IT are increasingly reliant upon each other
Table of Contents
What people-focused HR trends are shaping the Canadian workplace in 2026?
Employee experience is setting the standard for 2026
The employee experience defines how Canadian employers attract, engage and retain talent. Employee experience refers to the interactions, processes and moments that shape an employee’s journey, from hiring and onboarding to development and well-being. Organizations are focused on how effectively they support employees at each stage of the life cycle.1
Foundational HR processes (hiring, onboarding and offboarding) play a central role in this experience, as they shape an employee's early impressions and long-term engagement with the company. Research shows gaps in the efficiency of these HR processes.1
Compensation and benefits are critical drivers of employee satisfaction, while flexible work arrangements and integrated well-being support continue to influence day-to-day workplace sentiment.1 The employee experience is not about offering isolated perks; it’s about delivering consistent, accessible support across operations, compensation, flexibility and wellness.
Organizations are assessing their skills inventories
Skills inventories help businesses identify workforce capabilities and plan resourcing, development and succession effectively. A strong work ethic is the skill that Canadian employers prioritize when hiring. Many employers report challenges in finding candidates who possess this work ethic and other essential skills, such as attention to detail, time management, problem-solving and teamwork.1 Although organizations recognize the importance of these skills for customer satisfaction and overall success, they often struggle to provide adequate opportunities for skills development.
Although midsized and large companies acknowledge the importance of AI skills for competitiveness, very few are actively hiring for these competencies, indicating a significant opportunity for workforce development in this area.1
AI in talent and skills development
Organizations recognize the potential of AI to enhance employee development, with nearly half believing it can enhance skills development; however, there is a gap, as only a small percentage are currently using AI for skills development.1
Many businesses recognize AI as beneficial for onboarding and talent retention as well. Despite this potential, there is widespread agreement that generative AI will not replace traditional training methods; a significant majority of organizations express skepticism about such a shift. Smaller organizations share this view, while larger organizations are somewhat more open to the idea. Using AI to support talent development enables more personalized, insight-driven learning pathways that help organizations build the capabilities they need to grow.
Explore more people trends and detailed benchmarks in the Canada workplace trends for 2026 guidebook.
What compliance trends should Canadian employers prepare for in 2026?
Responsible adoption of AI in employment decisions and compliance requirements
AI tools are being integrated into recruitment, screening, workforce analytics and performance management; however, Canadian employers are approaching the use of AI with caution, particularly concerning compliance with regulatory requirements.1
Key priorities for organizations include maintaining transparency, protecting privacy and ensuring human oversight. To address these concerns, many are developing AI governance frameworks and considering the implementation of AI ethics policies, aiming to align technological innovation with regulatory standards and ethical principles. AI governance refers to the policies and safeguards organizations use to ensure technology is applied ethically, fairly and in line with privacy and employment regulations.
Pay transparency requirements are expanding across the country and globally
Pay transparency refers to the regulations and policies that require or encourage employers to disclose information about compensation figures and pay equity practices. Pay transparency legislation is evolving across Canada, prompting employers to review how compensation is structured, documented and communicated. From job postings to internal pay alignment assessments, organizations are strengthening governance around pay equity and disclosure readiness.
New pay transparency regulations will be introduced in EU member states by June 2026, requiring employers to share details about pay and promotion practices with employees and applicants. Larger companies will need to conduct audits on gender pay equity and disclose any pay disparities, with stricter rules for those with significant gaps.
Understanding evolving pay transparency requirements can help employers maintain compliance and strengthen trust with current and future employees.
Top compliance challenges for Canadian employers
Organizations in Canada identified the following as their top compliance challenges: data privacy, paid leave, payroll tax obligations, pay transparency and overtime regulations.1 Strategies for addressing these challenges differ by company size, with small and midsized firms often conducting their own research and larger ones relying on internal collaboration and partnerships with HR or payroll providers.
Anticipating compliance pressures before they escalate can help organizations avoid disruptions, protect employee trust and optimize operational processes.
Explore top compliance risks and readiness checklists in the Canada workplace trends for 2026 guidebook.
How is technology evolving for Canadian employers in 2026?
Agentic AI is emerging as a core HCM capability
Agentic AI is being used across businesses of all sizes, with large organizations showing a higher rate of adoption compared to small businesses.1 A recent survey indicates that HR leaders expect significant growth in the adoption of AI and that collaboration between people and AI agents will become common practice within the next five years.2
Organizations are using agentic AI to automate processes such as onboarding, to enhance accuracy in data management tasks like payroll and provide actionable insights from HR data, ultimately improving collaboration and decision making across various departments.
“Technology is shaping workforce management. The leading priority is aligning innovation with strong data governance, security practices and ethical use of emerging tools. Keeping a human in the loop is essential, as it helps employees make people-centered decisions. The future will depend on how effectively leaders balance driving innovation and upholding responsibility.”
— Carlos Gonzalez, Vice President and General Manager, Major and National Account Services, ADP Canada
Ethical management of employee and company data is rising in importance
Most businesses prioritize the ethical management of employee and company data.1 A significant portion of these organizations expresses confidence in their ethical data management practices. Over half have established policies and guidelines to support ethical data management, with larger businesses being more likely to have such frameworks in place.
However, when it comes to the ethical management of AI systems, slightly fewer organizations prioritize this issue, though it is more important for larger companies compared to smaller ones.
Fostering a culture of ethical data handling can enhance trust among employees and customers, mitigate risk and facilitate compliance with growing regulatory demands related to data and AI.
HR and IT are increasingly reliant upon each other
The relationship between HR and IT is evolving into a more interdependent one as AI transforms the workplace, with some companies even merging these departments.3 Many IT leaders predict a complete merger or at least a much closer collaboration between HR and IT in the near future.4 As AI tools become integrated into daily operations, both HR and IT must work together to ensure effective implementation and management. HR will increasingly depend on IT's knowledge of complex technologies, while IT will turn to HR for insights on user adoption and the human impact of these tools.
This evolution signifies the importance of fostering collaboration between HR and IT teams to navigate the complexities of AI in the workplace. By encouraging this partnership, organizations can better align technological innovation with human-centered decision making, supporting stronger workforce management and a balanced approach to driving innovation while maintaining ethical standards.
Explore top compliance risks and readiness checklists in the Canada workplace trends for 2026 guidebook.
Turning trends into action
Across people, compliance and technology, it’s clear that employers must balance innovation with responsibility while ensuring people remain at the center of organizational strategy.
Get in-depth Canadian workforce data and practical action frameworks that help translate these trends into real business outcomes. Download the guidebook and explore what’s shaping HR in Canada.
FAQs
What are the top HR trends shaping the Canadian workplace in 2026?
Leading HR trends include elevating the employee experience, reassessing skills inventories, responsible adoption of AI across talent and compliance, expanding pay transparency requirements, increasing importance of data ethics and closer collaboration between HR and IT teams.
What should employers know about pay transparency in Canada?
Pay transparency is expanding in Canada, with several provinces introducing or proposing requirements that affect how employers communicate compensation. Regulations vary by jurisdiction, but many employers are now expected to include salary ranges in job postings and maintain clear documentation about how compensation decisions are made. It’s important to be aware of and adhere to the pay transparency laws in the province or territory where your employees reside.
1. ADP Canada, Canada workplace trends for 2026 survey, internal analysis, 2025
2. Salesforce, HR Leaders to Redeploy a Quarter of Their Workforce as Agentic AI Adoption Expected to Grow 327% by 2027, 2025
3. BBC, Why firms are merging their HR and IT departments, 2025
4. Nexthink, IT’s New Mandate: The Experience Silo: HR, IT, and the Digital Workplace, 2025
This resource offers practical information concerning the subject matter and is provided with the understanding that ADP Canada is not rendering legal or tax advice or other professional services.
