DigitalWorks
Growing Canada’s northern digital economy and digitally skilled workforce.
Project Overview
Updated August 2, 2024
The Problem
Across Canada, growing digital economies and a digitally skilled workforce presents unique challenges and opportunities. This is especially true for rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities. In Nunavut, there are major labour shortages in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, with hundreds of unfilled positions that sometimes remain unfilled for decades. For those interested in working in the sector, accessing culturally relevant digital skills training, including foundational skills and digital literacy, is also challenging and contributes to the growing digital divide.
Further, communities in Inuit Nunangat (made up of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the territory Nunavut, Nunavik in northern Québec, and Nunatsiavut of Newfoundland and Labrador) must contend with limited waste infrastructure. Many landfills in Nunavut are built near the ocean, posing a significant marine pollution risk as e-waste (discarded electrical or electronic devices) in landfills can leach harmful chemicals into the environment.
How We Are Solving It
Pinnguaq’s DigitalWorks program is helping to build the digital workforce in the North and across Canada, contributing to a more sustainable digital economy by providing culturally relevant digital skills training, paid internships and microcredential accreditations to over 1,000 residents of rural, remote, Indigenous and northern communities.
The digital skills training component of DigitalWorks will provide accessible, low-cost, and short-cycle digital skilling and hybrid training opportunities to over 880 underserved jobseekers. Participants will be supported with both foundational digital literacy and functional skills development. Functional training will include paid internship opportunities in community-relevant, emerging and high-demand sectors including cybersecurity; big data and artificial intelligence (AI); programming, robotics and animation; and virtual reality (VR) and gaming/app development.
Additionally, Pinnguaq will seek to strengthen foundational digital skills within Inuit communities through the co-design and delivery of a six-week digital literacy microcredential. The microcredential program addresses the urgent need to provide sustainable, locally relevant digital literacy opportunities in communities facing significant barriers to digital learning, technological access and participation in the digital economy. Development of the microcredential will involve collaboration between subject matter experts, educators, community leaders and representatives from the target population to inform project activities and assist with the co-design. The end product will be a comprehensive and culturally relevant program that incorporates Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit principles. As a pilot, Pinnguaq will also contribute to a growing body of work geared toward strengthening approaches to foundational digital skills development and will include tools allowing for course materials to be adapted to serve other Indigenous communities, expanding its reach and impact.
To help address the e-waste management challenges present in Nunavut, Pinnguaq will provide upskilling, reskilling and work placements for over 100 Iqaluit residents in Nunavut’s digital technology and e-recycling sectors. These efforts will include co-developing and delivering a three-week digital skilling program centred around computer refurbishment and e-recycling. The program will seek to bridge the gap between labour market shortages and underemployed groups while addressing the lack of recycling and disposal initiatives in Nunavut, diverting at least 100 computers from the landfill. There will also be a five-week subsidized placement for up to 38 participants to apply skills, gain work experience and increase their employability. As part of a network of initiatives focused on community-led workforce development across Canada, this initiative will also contribute to a broader approach for supporting the sustainable development of rural, coastal communities long-term.
DigitalWorks participants will benefit and have access to opportunities through Pinnguaq’s national partnership network with communities and employers in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Result
Throughout this project, Pinnguaq brought together employers, knowledge keepers, elders, employees and other stakeholders to design and inform their delivery experiences and micro-credentials. By providing wrap-around support including meals, transportation, childcare and honorariums, they were able to lower the barriers to access for learners across over 4 communities to achieve a 96% graduation rate across the various programs.
The digital skills training component of the project provided foundational digital literacy training for 885 participants; and just under 95 individuals with functional digital training, various microcredentials and paid internships.
Pinnguaq’s 6-week basic digital literacy microcredential course was co-developed alongside Inuit communities across Nunavut, including Kugaaruk, Immirut, Kugluktuk, Arviat, Gjoa Haven, Chesterfield Inlet and Iqualuit. The course was then piloted and refined for 85 learners across Nunavut to provide basic computer knowledge, emailing, internet use and online safety, through to resume creation skills on Canva. In each community, wrap-around support such as laptops, transportation subsidies and nutrition were provided during and after programming. Pinnguaq further completed Train-the-Trainer lessons for just under 20 trainers in 5 communities to extend the microcredential adaptation for other Indigenous communities and equity-deserving groups.
To help address e-waste management challenges in Nunuvat, they also successfully developed and delivered a 3-week digital skilling program oriented to computer refurbishment and e-recycling for over 155 underserved participants throughout Nunavut, including Iqaluit. This included the refurbishment and supply of over 310 laptops to overall program participants.
