Building a Digitally Skilled Workforce
In this research, we examine the responses of 21 key informant interviews and a survey of 526 skills leaders across different industries and regions in Canada to explore how to better position Canadian employers for success in the digital workplace of today and tomorrow.
What is a legacy technology, and how is businesses’ continued reliance on it acting as a barrier to the country’s advancement in the digital skills landscape? What are the top digital skills needed by most industries in Canada? How can employers, post-secondary education, and government support digital skills training and upskilling?
Read the impact paper to get our full analysis.
Key insights
Employers need more workers with advanced digital skills that go beyond basic digital literacy. While the types of advanced digital skills depend on the specific industry and role, most industries in Canada need skills in cybersecurity, cloud computing, and data analysis.
Barriers to Canada’s advancement in the digital skills landscape include unequal access to digital infrastructure and digital skills training among Northern, Indigenous, and other rural communities as well as businesses’ continued reliance on legacy technology.
Employers should create a culture of continuous learning and development that allows their employees to consistently upgrade and maintain their digital skills.