The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security's ransomware threat outlook for 2025 to 2027 concludes that ransomware will remain a significant threat in Canada. Artificial intelligence is enabling threat actors to conduct attacks more inexpensively, quickly, and covertly.

The report states that all sectors, including small- and medium-sized businesses, are at risk, but critical infrastructure operators and large corporations are prime targets.

Reported ransomware incidents in Canada increased by an average of 26 percent per year from 2021 to 2024, and total recovery costs from cybersecurity incidents reached about $1.2 billion in 2023. This is an increase from about $200 million for 2019 to 2021.

The outlook notes that cybercriminals are using AI tools to identify vulnerabilities, craft convincing phishing lures and deepfakes, and automate parts of attacks. These techniques lower technical barriers for less-skilled actors.

Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/11641754/ransomware-ai-growth-canada/

Commentary

In the above source, Canada's federal cybersecurity authority reports a sustained rise in ransomware incidents and costs, emphasizing that AI-enabled tools are helping attackers scale and refine their operations against Canadian organizations of all sizes.

For Canadian organizations, this frames ransomware not as an isolated IT issue but as an ongoing operational, financial, and governance risk that requires structured preparation.

Canadian organizations can take several practical steps:

· Implement and regularly test offline and immutable backups so that key data can be restored without paying a ransom, aligning with guidance from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.

· Maintain and exercise an incident response plan that includes legal, communications, and executive decision-making processes, including how to engage law enforcement and regulators.

· Harden access controls by enforcing multifactor authentication, privileged-access management, and timely patching of internet-facing systems that ransomware groups commonly exploit.

· Conduct user training focused on phishing, social engineering, and AI-enhanced lures, including deepfake audio or video that may be used to authorize fraudulent payments or data access.

· Evaluate cyber insurance coverage and contractual requirements, ensuring that policy conditions (for example, minimum security controls and notification timelines) are understood and met.

The final takeaways for Canadian organizations: ransomware risk is increasing in frequency and financial impact while AI lowers attackers' costs. Thus, preparedness and resilience planning are critical.