From Pilots to Practice: How Canadian Educators are Adopting AI

Over the past few years of supporting digital transformations across Canadian K–12 and higher education, I’ve watched AI move from curiosity to reality. And with more than 20 years as an educator prior to this, it’s a privilege to work alongside Canadian institutions as they thoughtfully discover AI’s role in enhancing experiences for both educators and students.

We know the headline: 73 per cent of students are leveraging AI for their schoolwork. When most Canadian’s think of AI in education, minds tend to immediately narrow to how students are doing their homework. But that’s just one dimension of a much larger story. The real transformation is happening across every layer of education – from how lessons are designed and delivered, to how administrators allocate resources and support struggling students.

The future is certainly bright for what AI can help accomplish but the truth is many schools and campuses find themselves in their adolescence of adoption. Across the vast majority of schools, you’ll find pilots running in a few classrooms or departments and individual educators and IT teams experimenting with tools.

I know firsthand how AI adoption can transform individual students, faculties and entire systems, and with so many schools navigating implementation, it’s important to know where to start and how to grow.

Laying the Foundation: Data and Governance First

Like most things in life, it starts with a foundation. Canadian institutions making moves aren’t starting with tools – they’re starting with data. Before implementing anything, institutions are doing the essential work first: mapping their data, establishing governance frameworks, clarifying ownership and setting guardrails for privacy and security. This groundwork allows them to test AI in targeted ways without putting trust at risk.

However, there’s a gap to close. For instance, only about half of Canadian universities have any formal policy on generative AI and most of them leave decisions about its use to individual instructors. Similarly for K-12, implementation is fragmented. While provinces like Alberta and Quebec have released AI guidelines, many school boards are still in the process of creating formal policies.

With such a vast amount of data, it is a foundational step to effectively provide vital framework, structure, clarity and security. At Dell Technologies, we help education systems prioritize infrastructure and governance so they are set up for success from the onset.

Once institutions establish this foundation, they can move to the real question: What problem am I trying to solve? Do I want to enrich curriculum design? Reduce teacher workload? Identify students who need early intervention? This clarity on purpose is what bridges the gap between data governance and smart tool selection.

Start Small: Three Real-World Areas Where It’s Working 

Rather than trying to do “AI everywhere”, focus on one or two clear, high-impact problems. One school district/division might pilot an AI tool to reduce administrative workload for teachers. On the other hand, a university might experiment with intelligent agents to triage routine IT requests, freeing staff to focus on more complex issues. In each case, the goal is the same: start small, learn quickly, and scale what works.

In July 2024, Dell Technologies and C21 Canada started a joint initiative to transform educational practices through AI.  As part of this, we launched the AI Use Case Initiative, the AI Use Case Initiative, a national program designed to support responsible, scalable AI adoption in K-12 and higher education. Through real-world pilots, the initiative highlights how schools are improving student outcomes, supporting educators, and streamlining operations through shared use cases. Here are three key areas where AI is being implemented across Canadian education systems within the program.

AI-Supported Teaching and Learning

When implemented thoughtfully, AI becomes a copilot for educators – not a replacement. It can help differentiate teaching and learning, generate formative assessment ideas, and support lesson planning. What’s powerful is that it empowers teachers to focus on what they do best: create enriching and engaging learning experiences for students.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) demonstrates this well. They created an AI form for staff to share examples of how they were using AI in their classrooms. The tool then analyzed these submissions to identify where AI was creating the most value and where strategic expansion made sense. Submissions ranged from creating lesson plans and interactive activities tailored to student interests and learning differences, to generating images, poems, and songs to enhance creative learning experiences.

The result: a data-driven picture of AI’s actual impact across teaching and learning, informing the board’s next steps.

Streamlining Operations and Workflows Through AI

Teachers and administrators spend enormous energy on repetitive tasks – from navigating multiple tools to developing resources and aligning work to broader system priorities. AI reduces this burden while bringing greater consistency and clarity to how work gets done

At Anglophone East School District (AESD), AI was used to support district-wide improvement goals in literacy, numeracy, and student engagement. The district identified and approved a set of AI tools, while also developing guides, training resources, and best practices to help educators apply them effectively in their day-to-day work. By creating a more structured and supported approach to AI use, staff could spend less time figuring out how to use tools and more time focusing on meaningful, high-impact work with students.

Teachers and administrators spend enormous energy on repetitive tasks – data entry, scheduling, routine communications. Intelligent agents can handle these tasks, helping to reduce staff workloads so they can focus on higher-value priorities that support student outcomes.

Personalized Learning and Student Success with AI

At Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, educators use AI to strengthen how students learn and apply knowledge in real-world contexts. At Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, AI supports both personalized learning and hands-on skill development aligned to industry needs.

AI tools are embedded across the learning experience —from helping students organize notes and navigate complex concepts independently, to integrating technologies like drones, sensors, and predictive analytics into precision agriculture programs. This allows students to take greater ownership of their learning while developing critical thinking skills by understanding both the capabilities and limitations of AI in practice.

These examples share something important: they’re not about automating away human judgment. They’re about augmenting it, removing friction, and helping educators and administrators focus their expertise where it matters most.

Shared Learning: Why Collaboration Matters

What stands out across all AI efforts is that no institution is figuring it out alone.

The institutions moving most thoughtfully are the ones where educators, IT leaders, and operational staff are willing to compare notes – honest conversations about what worked, what didn’t, what surprised them, and where student wellbeing needs to anchor every decision. While K–12 and higher ed have different contexts, each have lessons the other needs to hear.

It’s why we created the Dell Technologies Education Summit – a shared space for educators and leaders to connect. This year’s event is taking place in Markham on March 31, 2026, and will bring together Canadian educators, IT professionals, and industry experts to explore real world AI use cases, data governance approaches, and leadership in the age of AI. Sessions will dive into practical pilots from school districts/divisions, colleges and universities, the building blocks of secure AI infrastructure, and how to lead teams through rapid change.

The Path Forward

AI in education isn’t a one-time implementation. It’s an evolution that requires foundation-building, clear priorities, small-scale learning, and honest dialogue across institutions.

Canadian schools and campuses moving most responsibly are the ones that understand: start with governance, not just tools. Focus on problems, not possibilities. Learn in community. And always, always keep student and educator wellbeing at the centre.