As Canada nears the end of Small Business Month, one thing is clear: artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept for entrepreneurs, it is quickly becoming their biggest ally.
Across the country, small business owners are discovering that AI is not just for large corporations. It is transforming how founders create, market, and operate their businesses. This evolution was recently showcased through The AI Studio, a first-of-its-kind experience hosted in Toronto by Pier Five in partnership with HP.
The AI Studio brought together 20 small business owners for a hands-on session exploring how AI can help them save time, scale their impact, and stay competitive. The event featured demonstrations of HP’s Next Gen AI PCs, which showed participants how integrated AI tools can assist with marketing, design, productivity, and cybersecurity.
“The AI Studio was built to inspire small business owners to explore how AI can work for them,” said Pier Five Co-Founder, Julian Golden. “Partnering with HP was a natural fit because we share the same goal: empowering Canada’s small business community with the right tools to grow and thrive.”
Unlike traditional tech events, The AI Studio focused on practical learning for entrepreneurs who juggle multiple roles and often lack access to enterprise-level resources. The goal was to show that AI can be approachable, affordable, and immediately impactful for small teams.
Since the event, attendees have already begun implementing AI into their operations, from building smart agents to manage day-to-day tasks, to generating AI-assisted marketing briefs and strengthening cybersecurity with on-device tools.
“The conversations happening after The AI Studio have been incredible,” said Pier Five Co-Founder, Jeff Lei. “Business owners are going back to work and applying what they learned, using AI to save time, reach new audiences, and protect their data. The momentum is real.”
AI and the Future of Canadian Small Business
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of Canada’s economy. There are 1.1 million businesses in the country, and 98 percent of them are small businesses. Together, they employ six in ten Canadians working in the private sector and drive growth across key industries such as accommodation and food services, construction, and agriculture (Source: BDC, 2025).
This scale highlights why AI adoption among small businesses is a necessity. For many founders, AI represents a new phase of productivity and creativity that allows them to compete in ways that were once out of reach. Canada’s small business landscape is also more diverse than ever. Women lead or co-lead one-third of the country’s SMEs (Source: BDC, 2025), while immigrant-led businesses account for 31 percent, driving roughly three-quarters of all SME export growth since 2017. Moreover,
66 percent of SME exporters now sell services, a shift reflecting the growing importance of digital and creative industries (Source: Canadian Society of Customs Brokers, 2025).
For this new generation of entrepreneurs, AI tools are becoming essential to innovation. They automate repetitive processes, generate insights that used to require full teams, and help small business owners focus on the parts of their work that matter most – creativity, strategy, and community.
“We’re still at the beginning of the AI revolution,” said Golden. “But small business owners who lean in now will be the ones leading tomorrow. AI and tools like HP’s Next Gen AI PCs give founders the superpower of time, helping them focus on what they love while automating the rest.”
Supporting Small Business Beyond October
While October marks Small Business Month, Pier Five’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs extends far beyond a single month. The community-driven organization continues to build programs, grants, and partnerships that empower small business owners across Canada year-round.
“At Pier Five, we believe in giving small business owners the same access to innovation as big companies,” Lei added. “HP’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs through their Next Gen AI PCs made this collaboration a perfect match.”
Since its founding, Pier Five has worked with partners across technology, finance, and creative sectors to bring resources directly to the people who need them most; the founders, creators, and innovators shaping Canada’s future.
Looking Ahead
The rise of AI presents an opportunity for Canadian small businesses to reinvent how they work. It allows founders to scale ideas faster, operate more efficiently, and connect with customers in entirely new ways.
As tools become more intuitive and accessible, the potential for small business owners continues to grow, with AI amplifying the entrepreneurial spirit.
For Pier Five and its partners, The AI Studio is just the beginning of that transformation. As Golden put it:
“This is such an exciting time to be a founder. AI is opening doors for creativity, efficiency, and connection that didn’t exist even a year ago. We’re embracing it with open arms.”
