8th Annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey: Canada Spotlight

A 360° view of business travel in Canada

Now in its eighth year, the Global Business Travel Survey brings together perspectives from travel managers, CFOs, and travellers around the world to reveal what's working, what's changing, and where organizations may need to rethink their approach to business travel.

This year's Canadian findings highlight four themes that small and mid-sized businesses can't afford to ignore: safety accountability gaps, unchecked AI adoption, difficulty proving travel ROI, and policy compliance challenges that may be more widespread than leaders realize.

Duty of care: who's responsible for traveller safety?

Safety accountability is fragmented, and the numbers are concerning:

• 43% of Canadian business travellers hold themselves most accountable for their own safety, while only 26% point to their employer
• 40% cite geopolitical safety concerns as a top reason they're hesitant to travel this year
• Only 19% are completely confident their organization could extract them from a dangerous situation abroad
• 76% of Canadian travel managers worry their organization isn't doing enough to protect employees on the road

Business travel drives growth, but ROI is hard to prove

Canadian leaders see value in travel but struggle to connect spending to outcomes:

• 75% of Canadian CFOs say business travel is very or extremely important to their growth strategy
• Yet 92% agree travel managers need to do a better job justifying how travel helps meet business goals
• Travel managers say they need better data to demonstrate ROI (54%), clearer expectations from leadership (44%), and more resources and AI training (42%)

AI adoption is outpacing policy

Travellers are using AI tools with or without company approval:

• 70% of Canadian business travellers say they would use non-approved AI tools, because they prefer other tools (38%) or their company doesn't offer any (32%)
• 81% of Canadian CFOs are at least somewhat concerned about employees using non-approved AI to plan or book travel
• Travellers want AI embedded in tools they already use, including calendars and email (38%), Teams or Slack (26%), and proactive booking notifications (26%)

Policy non-compliance is more common than leaders may realize

Travel and expense violations are widespread, and the reasons behind them matter:

• 56% of Canadian business travellers have bent or broken travel or expense policy at least once, including 21% who do so sometimes or often
• 54% say policies are flexible enough that most things can be justified

The fraud risk is real and growing

• 41% of Canadian business travellers think colleagues may be using AI to falsify expenses or receipts
• 66% of Canadian CFOs agree, and 50% say expense fraud at their organization is increasing

Download the report to get the full picture of today's business travel landscape.

About the research: The eighth annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey is based on insights from 3,300 business travelers across 21 global markets, 800 travel managers in eight markets, and 700 CFOs from seven markets. The study was conducted April 1-20, 2026, in partnership with Wakefield Research.