
OTTAWA – Growing and nurturing Canada’s digital talent base is essential for the country’s future growth and positioning in the global economy, says the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC).
The organization’s first-ever national digital talent strategy, Digital Talent: Road to 2020 and Beyond, projects that 182,000 skilled ICT workers will be needed in Canada by 2019, with another 36,000 by 2020. ICTC says that Canada’s digital economy currently employs approximately 1.15 million workers and contributes $74 billion annually to GDP across all sectors. Growth in digital jobs has outpaced those in the overall economy in the last two years by a ratio of more than 4 to 1, with ICT sector presently employing approximately 655,000.
“Our economy is being profoundly reshaped by rapid advancements in digital technology and new business models, many of which originate from outside of Canada”, said ICTC president and CEO Namir Anani, in the report’s news release. “The softness in the Canadian economy precipitated by low commodity prices has highlighted the urgent need to diversify our economy. Preparing and harnessing the full potential of Canada’s innovative talent to create the industries of the future has never been more critical for the Canadian economy.”
The strategy’s key recommendations include:
– Making computer science education mandatory from Kindergarten through Grade 12;
– Removing barriers to full participation in the ICT field by women, immigrants, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples and visible minorities;
– Providing incentives such as tax credits to reduce the financial burden on small and medium-sized businesses to upskill employees in ICT;
– Stimulating investment in research and development activities that bring new products and services to market;
– Helping those displaced from other industries transition into digital economy jobs; and
– Strengthening Canadians’ digital literacy and related skills.
ICTC developed the national digital talent strategy with support from Microsoft Canada, and in consultation with a range of industry, academic and policy leaders from across Canada. The organization added that it will partner with stakeholders from industry, academia and government to establish action-oriented taskforces to work on advancing the key recommendations in the report.