Canadian universities are embracing generative artificial intelligence in their teaching plans as more students and instructors opt to use the rapidly evolving technology.<\/p>\n
Several large institutions, including McGill University, University of Toronto and York University, said they are adopting certain AI tools because they can enhance learning. Those include tested tools that help students summarize academic research or assist professors in course planning.<\/p>\n
The shift comes as post-secondary students\u2019 AI use continues to grow. A survey conducted in late 2024 by the online learning platform Studiosity found that 78 per cent of Canadian students used AI to study or complete their school work. <\/p>\n
The Pan-Canadian Report on Digital Learning also found that the number of educators who reported generative AI use in student learning activities was 41 per cent last year, up from 12 per cent in 2023. <\/p>\n
McGill University\u2019s associate provost, Christopher Buddle, said the school has integrated digital AI assistant Microsoft Copilot into its systems to help staff, students and faculty with their work. The tool can be used to make a first draft of a letter, summarize online content or to organize day-to-day tasks. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople use it for all kind of things and from what I understand it\u2019s being used effectively and used quite a lot by our university community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Buddle said offering generative AI tools through the school\u2019s IT infrastructure ensures they are vetted properly to address privacy risks and ensure data protection.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve not approached it through the idea of banning (AI) or saying \u2018no.\u2019 In fact, what we\u2019d rather see and what we support instructors doing and students doing is effective use of generative AI in teaching and learning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Buddle said the university has left it up to instructors to decide how much AI use they want to allow in their classes. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t tell instructors what to do or not to do. We provide them tools and give them the principles and let them make the best decisions for their course because it\u2019s so discipline specific,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Some professors, for example, have their students use generative AI to create a first draft of a written assignment and then the students evaluate the outcome, Buddle said. <\/p>\n
The school is launching an online module for students and instructors this fall to help them navigate and understand the benefits and risks of AI in education, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerative AI is pervasive. It\u2019s everywhere and it will remain that way going forward,\u201d Buddle said. <\/p>\n
University of Toronto professor Susan McCahan, who led the school\u2019s task force on AI, said the institution is integrating AI tools but it\u2019s also taking a balanced approached that allows instructors to explore the technology while critically thinking about its value in education. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a wide range of opinions on AI and the use of AI in classrooms and in teaching and in learning,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we want to support faculty who are interested in innovating and using it in their classes. We want to support faculty who find that it is not useful for them or for their students.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCahan said the university has used AI systems for years, including for auditing financial reports and helping students find mental health resources. More recently, the school also made Microsoft Copilot available to all faculty, students and staff. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey can use in any way they wish. And because it\u2019s within our system, you can do things like open a library article in the library, and ask Copilot to summarize it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t share that data back with Microsoft … so you can put in more sensitive information into that.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCahan said the university has also made ChatGPT Edu licences available to students and staff who would like to use the tool with added security protection. The school has been experimenting with AI tutors and will expand that in the coming school year with Cogniti, an open-source system developed at the University of Sydney in Australia, she added.<\/p>\n
At York University, the goal is \u201cto take a thoughtful and principled approach to this modern technology,\u201d deputy spokesperson Yanni Dagonas said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransparency works to demystify AI, helping our community better understand its impact and potential,\u201d Dagonas said.<\/p>\n
The university has created an online AI hub with a dedicated section for instructors, who are discouraged from using AI detection tools when evaluating students\u2019 work because many such tools are considered unreliable and raise concerns about data security and confidentiality. <\/p>\n
Despite the \u201chuge uptake\u201d in students\u2019 generative AI use, many professors are still worried about bias in AI models, ethical and privacy issues, as well as the technology\u2019s environmental impact, said Mohammed Estaiteyeh, an assistant professor of education at Brock University.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents are kind of using (AI) to save time. They think it is more efficient for various reasons,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
But when it comes to instructors, \u201cit depends on your domain. It depends your technological expertise. It depends on your stance towards those technologies,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cMany instructors have concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Estaiteyeh said most Canadian universities are providing guidance to instructors on the use of AI in their classes but leaving much of it to their discretion.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, (at) Brock, we don\u2019t have very strict guidelines in terms of students can do this or that. It\u2019s up to the instructor to decide in relation to the course, in relation to the materials, if they want to allow it or not,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still navigating the consequences, we\u2019re still not 100 per cent sure about the benefits and the risks. A blanket, a one-size-fits-all approach may not suit well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Estaiteyeh said instructors and students need AI training and resources on top of guidance to reduce the risk of relying too much on the technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you offload all the skills to the AI tools then you\u2019re not really acquiring significant skills throughout your three- or four-year degree at the university,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThose tools have been in place for around two years only. And it\u2019s too early for us to claim that students have already grasped or acquired the skills on how to use them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations said AI technologies must complement the learning experience and universities should discourage the use of AI for evaluations and screening of student work.<\/p>\n
The alliance said in a report released earlier this year that research has shown untested AI systems can introduce \u201cbias and discriminatory practices\u201d against certain student groups. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor instance, AI-powered plagiarism detection tools have been found to disproportionately misclassify the work of non-native English speakers as AI-generated or plagiarized,\u201d the report said. <\/p>\n
The alliance has been calling for \u201cclear ethical and regulatory guidelines\u201d governing the use of generative AI in post-secondary education.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2025.<\/p>\n
Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canadian universities are embracing generative artificial intelligence in their teaching plans as more students and instructors opt to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,45,49,48,549,15913,890,714,66,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-82327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-ca","13":"tag-canada","14":"tag-education","15":"tag-hardware","16":"tag-lifestyle","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-science","19":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}