CanCode

The CanCode program will invest $50 million over two years, starting in 2017-18, to support initiatives providing educational opportunities for coding and digital skills development to Canadian youth from kindergarten to grade 12 (K-12).

The program aims to equip youth, including traditionally underrepresented groups, with the skills and study incentives they need to be prepared for the jobs of today and the future. Canada's success in the digital economy depends on leveraging our diverse talent and providing opportunity for all to participate—investing in digital skills development will help to achieve this.

Why this is important

Innovation begins with skilled, talented and creative people. Canada is already home to one of the best educated workforces in the world, but in an increasingly competitive global economy, more needs to be done to ensure that Canadians can learn, adapt and have good jobs throughout their working lives. Budget 2017's Innovation and Skills Plan advances an agenda to build Canada as a world-leading innovation economy that will create good jobs and grow the middle class. One of the key pillars of this plan is skills and ensuring young Canadians get the skills and experience they need to kick-start their careers.

Digital skills, like coding and understanding how new technologies can be used to solve real world problems, have become increasingly vital across all sectors of the global economy. For example, learning to code at a young age helps develop analytical thinking and fosters problem-solving techniques—skills that are important for further study in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and that are becoming increasingly in-demand for the job market.

Supporting the digital skills and coding in the K-12 student population is critical to ensuring that Canadian youth are exposed to the concepts needed to encourage future study pathways and the kinds of skills that match workforce demand, enabling them to seize opportunities emerging as a result of the rapidly evolving digital economy.

Contact information

For general questions and comments, please contact the CanCode program.

Telephone (toll-free in Canada): 1-800-328-6189
Telephone (Ottawa): 613-954-5031
Fax: 343-291-1913
TTY (for hearing-impaired): 1-866-694-8389
By email
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Business hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
By mail: CanCode
C.D. Howe Building
235 Queen Street, 1st floor, West Tower
Ottawa, ON  K1A 0H5
Canada