Canva cut or changed 1,271 roles, 22% of its staff, without naming AI.

Reported, not verified. Canva's own newsroom refused every fetch today, and the memo is internal, so no primary document was readable. The account rests on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Forbes Australia and Human Resources Director, each quoting the memo directly and agreeing on the figures. Verification event: Canva publishes a newsroom statement, or Australian redundancy filings disclose the number.

Melanie Perkins, Canva's chief executive and co-founder, told staff on Wednesday November 4, 2026 Sydney time that a restructure affects 1,271 roles, about 22% of the global workforce, which the reports describe as more than one in five. The figure covers roles cut, changed or relocated, and Canva has published no split between them; 1,271 at 22% implies roughly 5,800 staff, our arithmetic and not Canva's. Quoted from the memo: this is the hardest moment in our 13-year history; growth has slowed for the first time in a decade; after exploring a wide range of alternatives, the difficult conclusion that small changes won't be enough; we need to re-found Canva, getting back to our roots of small, empowered teams. On the cause, Canva said new technology is changing how people create and use products. Artificial intelligence is not named, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation states the announcement did not explicitly mention it. Structure: product, growth and platform teams merge into a single product organisation, management layers are cut, Sydney becomes the primary home for product teams, and some staff will be asked to relocate to centralised hubs. From January, hybrid staff are expected in an office 2 to 3 days a week. Canva has Australian operations in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth and operates in 37 countries. Terms for departing staff: at least 6 months of salary, 12 months of healthcare where Canva provides it, their company laptop, and removal of the one-year equity vesting cliff for some recently hired staff, per the Australian Financial Review. A new Canva Collective Fund offers $10,000 grants to departing staff starting a business or community project. The valuation record, from the same reports: Canva entered 2026 valued at $40 billion; T. Rowe Price marked its holding down 20%, to $1,189 a share, an implied $30.4 billion as of August 31; Blackbird, the largest shareholder, cut its internal valuation 17%, to $34.9 billion in August. Canva lowered projected revenue growth from 30% to 20%. The reports note as background, not as Canva's stated cause, that the rollout of its AI-focused platform was delayed by the cost of serving AI to mostly non-paying users, and that Canva is building its own model, named Craft. Not established: revenue, headcount, the redundancy split, and any causal claim about AI.

1. Oct 22

   Barclays files technology-driven staff cuts and says the number is about 5,000. Edition 059. A bank naming technology as the cause, where Canva does not.

2. Oct 26

   Microsoft opens a Voluntary Exit Offer to staff up to level 70 in 4 countries. Edition 063. Large software employers were already shrinking headcount before this.

3. Aug 31

   T. Rowe Price marks its Canva shares down 20%, to $1,189 each, an implied $30.4 billion. Blackbird cuts its own valuation 17% the same month. The company entered 2026 at $40 billion.

4. Nov 4

   Perkins tells staff 1,271 roles are cut, changed or relocated, 22% of the workforce, and that growth has slowed for the first time in a decade. New technology is named; AI is not.