Article
4 min
Infographic: How Canadian Education Orgs Are Advancing Cybersecurity in 2026
Education organizations in Canada are balancing constrained budgets with zero-trust priorities, workforce protection needs and AI-driven security investments.
The Top Cyberthreats Against Education Institutions in Canada
165
the average number of cyberattacks against a Canadian education institution in 2025
63.6
say ransomware is their top cyberattack concern
52.3%
cite denial of service as a major concern
49.5%
identify social engineering as a leading threat
The Time it Takes to Respond and Recover from Cyberincidents
9.7 days
the average time it takes an education organization to respond to a cyberincident
19.4 days
average recovery time after an incident
Despite Lower Budgets, Education Organizations Are Pursuing Digital Ambitions
16%
IT budgets within the education sector spent on cybersecurity, the lowest among Canadian industries
34%
report some level of AI or GenAI integration into business workflows
39.3%
data sovereignty is a major or critical requirement when evaluating security and cloud platforms
59.8%
cite stronger zero-trust alignment as the top driver for security architecture modernization
Major Gaps in Zero Trust Execution
52.3%
identify continuous authentication and authorization as the biggest zero-trust weakness
43.9 %
highlight gaps in visibility and analytics
43.0%
cite identity and access management as a major gap
33.6%
report weaknesses in network security and microsegmentation
Cybersecurity Modernization Priorities in Education
46.7%
cite secure support for remote and hybrid workforce as a key driver for security architecture modernization
44.9%
prioritize improved visibility and control over cloud traffic
How Canadian Education Organizations Are Strengthening Foundations for Zero Trust and AI
59.8%
cite stronger zero-trust alignment as a top driver behind security modernization initiatives
50.5%
are increasing AI-driven security spending on data loss prevention and data leakage controls
49.5%
are investing in AI model monitoring, auditing and assurance tools
46.7%
are prioritizing identity and access security for AI workloads
The 2026 CDW Canadian Cybersecurity Study
Navigating Ransomware, Modern Architectures and the Maturity Paradox
These findings are from the 2026 CDW Canadian Cybersecurity Study with data obtained through a Canada-wide, cross-province and cross-industry survey, independently conducted by IDC, of 700 IT security, risk and compliance professionals, with 107 in education.