Get the Latest Findings from CDW’s 2026 Canadian Cybersecurity Study
The 2026 CDW Canadian Cybersecurity Study examines how organizations in Canada are evolving their defences amid higher executive expectations, accelerating investment and more targeted adversaries. The report reveals a widening “maturity paradox”: board‑level confidence and spend are rising, yet foundational disciplines such as identity, third‑party risk and resilience are not advancing at the same pace.
Our findings offer key insights into how Canadian organizations can turn board momentum into measurable security outcomes, modernize detection and response and close the maturity gap where it matters most.
Data Highlights
The Canadian threat landscape is evolving.
Here's what we found:
8 in 10
The attack surface is expanding: 8 in 10 organizations report some level of connected‑device deployment, while almost half are piloting AI projects.
342 cyberattacks
The average number of cyberattacks faced by large enterprises increased from 191 to 342, although attacks declined for small and medium organizations.
Cloud‑incident infections for enterprises rose to 53%, the highest level seen in the study to date.
The average number of breach incidents in enterprise organizations increased from 21 to 30.
Year‑over‑year, average downtime per incident grew between 23% and 39%
For enterprises, average breach downtime increased from about 13 to 20 days, while cloud‑incident downtime increased from 16 to 20 days.
For a full breakdown of attack trends, view the full report.
Cybersecurity Challenges Faced by Canadian Organizations
Canadian enterprises are investing at record levels and elevating cyber to the boardroom, but persistent execution gaps remain in identity governance, supplier risk, insider threat and recovery planning. These gaps compound the operational difficulty of defending hybrid, cloud‑first and edge‑heavy environments where ransomware, credential abuse and cloud misconfigurations converge.
The five key findings of this study focus on how Canadian organizations are managing cybersecurity and what’s holding them back:
Key Finding 1
Investment Hits Record Levels as Expectations Shift
Security now averages 19.5% of total IT budgets (2026), up from 17.0% (2025) and 14.4% (2024); enterprises allocate ~21.7%. Cloud security’s share of security budgets grew to 22.4% (enterprises ~23.6%), reflecting cloud’s centrality and risk concentration.
Key Finding 2
Executive Confidence Outpaces Capability
Many organizations are layering advanced tools atop fragile foundations, which impairs zero‑trust execution, complicates AI governance and leaves ransomware pathways open through identity and supplier entry points.
Key Finding 3
Ransomware’s Impact Scales Despite Faster Detection
Average time to detect improved vs. 2023-2025, and response remains better than pre‑2024 levels. Yet incident success and downtime are up, driven by cloud complexity, data exfiltration burdens and lateral‑movement speed.
Key Finding 4
SSE/SASE Emerges as the Practical Path to Zero Trust
Zero‑trust alignment is now the top‑ranked driver for SASE/SSE adoption (57.9%), surpassing cost or performance. Data sovereignty requirements further accelerate this shift through regional PoPs and policy controls.
Key Finding 5
AI Adoption in Cybersecurity
Investment is rising in AI model assurance, identity for AI workloads and data‑leakage controls. However, buyers demand accuracy, explainability and auditability before scaling deployments, with mature programs insisting on governance and human oversight.
5 Cybersecurity Recommendations for Canadian Organizations
Canadian organizations can strengthen their security posture and enhance cyber resilience by taking these steps.
For detailed essential guidance on these recommendations, view the full report.
