Four in 10 Canadians Would Drop a Business Over Weak Cybersecurity: Bell

Almost 40% of Canadians would stop doing business with a company if they doubted its cybersecurity protections, according to new survey data from Bell Canada. The finding lands as the operator's Cyber division reports that nearly 80% of respondents said they had been targeted by some form of cyberattack in the past 12 months.

Bell Cyber surveyed 1,523 adults over seven days beginning 29 July. The results paint a market where consumer patience with weak security is running out, and where artificial intelligence is seen as sharpening the threat.

How deep does the trust deficit run?

The survey's strongest signal is behavioural, not just attitudinal. Nearly 60% of respondents said they would stop using a business outright if their personal data was exposed in a breach. That figure goes beyond vague worry: it describes customers with an exit plan.

Confidence in corporate defences is thin. Only 31% of those surveyed believe businesses can protect personal information from incidents involving AI. Nearly four in five respondents — 76% — believe AI is increasing the sophistication of scams and swindles, and Canadians broadly think companies are struggling to keep pace with the threats the technology helps create.

For operators and enterprises alike, the message is that security credentials now sit squarely inside the purchase decision. Bell framed the data as evidence that cybersecurity performance has become a competitive factor in consumers' choice of businesses, rather than a back-office concern.

Where does the workplace fit in?

The survey also probed what happens inside companies. Bell's research highlighted concern over workplace cybersecurity training, with many employees reporting that they have taken the initiative to seek out security information themselves rather than waiting for structured employer programmes.

That self-directed learning points to a gap. If staff are educating themselves on cyber hygiene, the formal training layer — the one companies control and can audit — is not fully meeting demand.

Can localisation rebuild confidence?

Bell suggests one concrete lever for businesses looking to reassure customers: localisation. The research indicates trust is greater when personal information is stored on domestic servers and when security is overseen by Canadian companies rather than foreign providers.

That finding carries commercial weight for Bell itself. The operator is investing heavily in domestic data centre capacity, including a major build in Saskatchewan, and consumer preference for Canadian-hosted data aligns neatly with that infrastructure strategy. The survey does not prove causation between those preferences and purchasing behaviour, and Bell has an obvious commercial interest in the answer — a caveat worth holding onto when weighing the vendor's framing.

Still, the underlying numbers come from a substantial sample. With 1,523 respondents and attack exposure near 80% within a single year, the baseline level of victimisation is high enough to treat Canadian consumer anxiety as a market reality rather than marketing construct.

For Bell, the survey arrives at a useful moment. As its data centre investments come online and enterprises weigh where to host sensitive workloads, the operator will be watching whether stated preferences for domestic storage translate into contracts — and whether rivals can credibly match the local-hosting pitch.