As Ottawa Pushes AI Adoption, Toronto Consultant Offers Small Business Owners a Plain-Language Test for Spotting AI Grift

Canada, 18th Sep 2026 – Canada’s national AI strategy, “AI for All,” aims to lift business AI adoption from 12% to 60% by 2034, and Statistics Canada reports that 19.2% of Canadian businesses used AI in the year to the second quarter of 2026, up from 6.1% two years earlier.

Tiffany DaSilva, founder of Toronto-based DaSilva Consulting, says that growth is bringing a wave of vendors selling AI services that owners can’t evaluate, and she has one test for them.

“My main message is always, if it’s hard to understand, that’s by design. It’s meant to sell you something,” said DaSilva, who teaches AI marketing and SEO at Growclass and McMaster Continuing Education.

“If you don’t understand what someone has tried to tell you about AI, that’s the wrong person to be even listening to,” she said. “There’s a lot of grift happening, and I hate it.”

DaSilva’s Advice for Owners Being Pitched AI Services:

• Judge the explanation, not the jargon. If a vendor can’t explain the work in words you understand, that’s your answer.
• Follow and buy from people who explain things plainly. “Block or unfollow” the rest, she says.
• Pick one AI tool and learn it well. “Don’t try to learn everything.”
• Treat AI as an assistant, not a replacement. “I don’t think it should be replacing every person that you may have.”
• Decide what it can see. DaSilva keeps her own email and meeting notes on view-only access and puts no financial information into AI tools.

Ottawa’s strategy includes a National AI Literacy Initiative and support for small and medium-sized businesses adopting AI.

About DaSilva Consulting

DaSilva Consulting is a Toronto-based, senior-led SEO, AI optimization and paid search consultancy for B2B and ecommerce brands. Founder Tiffany DaSilva has more than 20 years of experience in growth and performance marketing, has worked with 500+ brands, and teaches SEO and AI marketing at McMaster Continuing Education and Growclass. https://dasilvaconsulting.com

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Organization: DaSilva Consulting

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