The Privacy Commissioner's October 23 submission sets out transparency issues across five areas of AI, while a separate Statistics Canada survey highlights ongoing cybercrime costs.
Five transparency problems under review
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada said on October 23 that it had submitted comments to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's consultation on increasing transparency and trust in artificial intelligence. The privacy regulator agreed that meaningful disclosure questions arise in five areas: AI-generated content, interactions with AI, information about AI systems, AI incidents and AI agents. The submission is a regulatory policy contribution, not an announcement that five new legal obligations are already in force.
What users and businesses need to understand
Whether a customer is chatting with an automated system, reviewing a synthetic image or permitting an AI agent to act on their behalf, the relevant practical question is what they have been told and what they can verify. Clear disclosures about the nature of a system can help people understand who is responsible for a decision, how to seek a correction and when human review matters. The privacy commissioner's release emphasizes trust through transparency, rather than treating a disclosure label alone as proof that a tool is safe.
Cybersecurity figures provide a separate warning
Statistics Canada's October 21 release, using 2025 survey data, found that about 16% of Canadian businesses in the survey were affected by cybersecurity incidents. Of impacted businesses, 55% identified scams and fraud among the methods of attack. These numbers do not measure AI-specific fraud, and they should not be represented as evidence that AI caused the incidents. They do illustrate why security safeguards, identity checks and plain-language explanations remain important for digital services.
What happens next
The consultation and the commissioner's written submission are inputs to policy development. Specific binding requirements would depend on later decisions and applicable law. Organizations using AI should examine the regulator's actual documents and existing privacy obligations, while consumers should distinguish a company's voluntary disclosure from a government certification. CDN News will track any subsequent legislative or regulatory step separately rather than anticipating an outcome.
Sources & transparency
Office of the Privacy Commissioner — October 23 AI transparency submissionStatistics Canada — Impact of cybercrime on Canadian businesses, 2025Original CDN News coverage. Sources are linked for reference.
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