Canadian healthcare organisations are increasing their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in patient care, despite continued reliance on outdated IT infrastructure and legacy systems.
According to SOTI's latest report, 87% of Canadian IT decision makers say AI is used in patient care, an increase from 72% in the previous year. Among these, 60% use AI to process and analyse medical data, 68% to update patient records, and 41% to diagnose medical conditions.
AI usage
Canada is noted as exceeding the global average in using AI for updating patient records, with 68% of healthcare organisations leveraging AI for this purpose, ahead of the global average of 59%. This also surpasses the United States (60%), Mexico (64%), Italy (57%), and Spain (54%).
The report highlights that the use of AI for administrative tasks has increased to 52% from 11% in the previous year, while 47% of organisations now use AI to personalise treatments. These figures reflect a wider shift in budget and care prioritisation for Canadian healthcare.
"While AI adoption continues to grow across Canadian healthcare, our report reveals that legacy infrastructure is making it harder to unlock its full potential," says Shash Anand, SVP of Product Strategy at SOTI. "From security gaps to poor device visibility, many organizations are stuck trying to scale innovation on outdated systems. To close that gap, they need robust Enterprise Mobility Management solutions that deliver real-time intelligence, control and flexibility, especially when care teams are under pressure to do more with less."
Shash Anand also commented: "This shift to the broader use of AI is critical, as it allows Canadian healthcare organizations to streamline time-consuming back-office tasks, reduce human error, and free up clinical staff to focus more directly on patient care in an already overstretched system."
Legacy systems
SOTI's research reveals that 99% of Canadian healthcare organisations still rely on legacy infrastructure, with 71% using outdated systems to operate telehealth and IoT devices. This is associated with frequent downtime and increased security vulnerabilities, including 51% of IT leaders stating these systems make networks more susceptible to attacks.
Globally, the survey found that nearly two-thirds (65%) of organisations use unintegrated, outdated systems for IoT and telehealth medical devices. In Canada, 73% of organisations experience downtime or technical issues, and all surveyed indicated the use of connected devices or telehealth solutions in patient care.
Canadian IT decision makers report difficulties due to legacy systems, including being unable to deploy and manage new devices or printers (46%), being unable to support devices remotely or get detailed information on device issues (43%), and spending excessive time fixing issues (47%). The UK (47%), Canada (46%), and Australia (43%) reported more issues with device deployment and management than the global average.
Security challenges
Concerns over data security have increased, with 53% of Canadian respondents rating security as their top IT concern in 2025, up from 39% in 2024. Across all respondents, 30% cite data security as the most important issue, and 13% list managing the security of shared devices as a leading challenge.
"Shared device security remains one of the most pressing IT challenges. Basic MDM tools no longer meet the demands of today's complex digital environment," said Stephanie Lopinski, VP of Global Marketing at SOTI. "With more devices, users and frontline workers, healthcare must adopt EMM solutions that enable centralized deployment, security and management. Only then can IT leaders ensure scalable, secure and compliant operations."
EMM solutions
The report recommends that Canadian healthcare organisations adopt advanced Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions, which can provide real-time intelligence, centralised control, and greater flexibility. According to SOTI, these systems are necessary to address current challenges and ensure the security and effectiveness of digital healthcare operations.
To fully realise the potential of emerging technologies such as AI, the report concludes that healthcare organisations should prioritise upgrading their IT infrastructure and reallocate resources accordingly.
