CM Townhall - Generative AI and Trust: What Canadian Marketers Need to Know Now

The Trust Paradox
AI adoption rises as trust declines — global insights from KPMG and Canadian data.

The Transparency Dilemma
AI disclosure can reduce trust — and how to break the AI washing vs. AI booing cycle.

Governance as Competitive Advantage
Turning compliance into growth, with insights from Deloitte, PwC, and IBM.

The Canadian Marketer’s Position
Regulatory landscape, Voluntary Code of Conduct, and first-mover opportunity.

From Frameworks to Practice
ASSURANCE principles and the World Economic Forum Responsible AI Playbook.

Q&A
By the end of this session, you will understand why trust is the new competitive moat in an AI-saturated market — and why it’s eroding even as adoption accelerates, particularly in Canada, where consumers remain skeptical and prefer human interaction for complex issues.

You will see why transparency alone is not a trust strategy, as AI disclosure can trigger a measurable trust penalty unless it is paired with demonstrated value, human oversight, and credible governance.

Finally, you will recognize that the real gap is not in frameworks but in adoption — and how Canadian marketers can leverage existing principles and codes to get ahead of competitors and regulators by closing the implementation gap now.

Attendees will leave with a data-grounded understanding of where consumer trust in AI actually stands, and why the intuitive response of transparency can backfire without substantive governance. Most importantly, they will walk away with named, actionable frameworks they can bring back to their teams immediately. The session bridges the gap between "we know we need to think about AI trust" and "here's how we actually start.

Kevin Floether
Director of Marketing and Communications at the Chartered Business Valuators Institute

Kevin Floether, MCM, APR, CM, is Director of Marketing and Communications at the Chartered Business Valuators Institute, where he led the organization's generative AI rollout and internal training program. His graduate research on digital trust — his thesis, Decoding Digital Trust: A Multi-dimensional Analysis of Tech Influencer Credibility on YouTube, received the Grossman Group Master's Thesis of the Year Award from the Institute for Public Relations (2025) — examined trust dynamics in influencer marketing using natural language processing techniques. Kevin serves on the Canadian Marketing Association's Artificial Intelligence Committee, is a teaching assistant in McMaster University's Master of Communications Management program supporting courses in data analytics and AI, and writes on Substack about trust, technology, and the evolving information ecosystem. He holds a Master of Communications Management from McMaster University, is Accredited in Public Relations (APR) through the Canadian Public Relations Society, and is a Chartered Marketer (CM).

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