What is the Public Trust Gap?

The public trust gap exists at the intersection of growing digital threats and insufficient public understanding of solutions. While Canadians face increasing risks online, from identity theft to data breaches, many remain unsure or apprehensive about digital identity and verification technologies that could protect them.

Understanding Digital Trust Capabilities

Digital trust capabilities are the technologies and methods used to verify a person or organization’s identity while enhancing privacy, security, and transparency. These capabilities use people-centred design to operate:

• Digital credentials – Verified information about you that can be securely stored and shared
• Digital wallets – Secure applications where you control your credentials
• Trust networks – Interconnected systems that verify credentials reliably
• Modern authentication – Advanced methods to confirm identity without compromising privacy

Why Digital Trust Matters Now

Digital trust capabilities are critical, and long overdue, to support a secure and inclusive digital economy and society. The benefits span every sector:

Real-World Impact

• Efficiency: Streamlined business processes that save millions of dollars
• Healthcare: Secure access to proper health records when and where you need them
• Financial services: Easier processes for buying a house or opening accounts
• Travel: Simpler, more secure boarding for planes and border crossings
• Government services: Faster, more convenient access to benefits and programs
• Privacy protection: Greater control over personal data and how it’s shared

The Gap in Numbers

DIACC’s research reveals the complexity of the trust gap:

55%

of Canadians already feel the positive impacts of secure, convenient, privacy-enhancing digital services

This means a majority are experiencing benefits, yet nearly a quarter remain hesitant. The gap isn’t about rejection—it’s about understanding, education, and addressing legitimate concerns.

“In today’s digital world, trust remains at a premium, and the importance of identity verification is at an all-time high. People should rightly be concerned because there are often no easily understood rules around where their personal data lives, who owns it, or how others use it.”— Joni Brennan, President, Digital ID & Authentication Council of Canada

The Cost of Inaction

The public trust gap has real consequences. Without widespread adoption of secure digital identity solutions, Canada risks:

• Loss of strategic autonomy in the digital economy
• Continued vulnerability to cybersecurity attacks
• Failure to realize substantial economic growth potential
• Falling behind global competitors in digital transformation
• Ongoing frustration with fragmented, insecure online services
• Missed opportunities for privacy-enhancing innovations

A Shared Responsibility

Closing the public trust gap isn’t the responsibility of government alone, or business alone, or citizens alone. It requires collaboration across all sectors—public and private working together with civil society to address concerns, educate the public, and build systems that truly put people first.

The gap exists not because digital trust capabilities are unwanted, but because the public needs clearer understanding of what these capabilities are, how they work, and most importantly, how they can benefit and improve everyday life while protecting privacy and security.