The MBA didn't recognize the scanner at first, so I went to Canon's support page for this scanner found drivers for it that were updated late last year and installed them. I've never tried to use it with my M1 MacBook Air, but for the sake of this conversation, I gave it a whirl. I have a Canon flatbed scanner that I bought a few years ago and is used with my 2019 iMac. Quite a lot of scanners work straight out of the box just fine, no additional drivers needed, but not universally so.
Obviously look for one that is compatible with Big Sur. The architecture isn't really relevant, but rather the OS support. Click to expand.I wouldn't be concerned about whether or not they specifically say they are compatible with the M1 platform.
