DigitalWorks
Growing Canada’s northern digital economy and digitally skilled workforce.
Project Overview
Updated March 25, 2026.
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
The Pinnguaq Association, which rebranded as Ampere in late 2024, delivers its DigitalWorks program to help 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 residents of rural, remote, Indigenous and northern communities.
The digital skills training component of DigitalWorks provides accessible, low-cost, and short-cycle digital literacy, skilling, microcredential and hybrid training opportunities to underserved jobseekers. Functional training includes 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. Microcredential offerings are both comprehensive and culturally relevant by incorporating Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit principles.
To help address the e-waste management challenges present in Nunavut, Ampere also provides upskilling, reskilling and work placements for Iqaluit residents in Nunavut’s digital technology and e-recycling sectors. The training bridges the gap between labour market shortages and underemployed groups while addressing the lack of recycling and disposal initiatives in Nunavut, diverting hundreds of computers from the landfill.
DigitalWorks participants additionally benefit and have access to opportunities through Ampere’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
DIGITAL’s co-investment in DigitalWorks, delivered by Ampere (formerly the Pinnguaq Association), has significantly expanded access to digital skills training for underserved communities across Canada, particularly in rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous regions.
The initiative first supported the co-design of community-informed training programs by bringing together employers, knowledge keepers, Elders, and local stakeholders to ensure programming reflected real workforce and community needs. Through the provision of wraparound supports—including meals, transportation, childcare, technology, and honoraria—barriers to participation were reduced, contributing to an exceptional 96% graduation rate across participating communities.
Across the program, 980 participants completed foundational digital literacy training, functional digital skills programming, microcredentials, and internships. A six-week digital literacy microcredential was co-developed with Inuit communities across Nunavut—including Kugaaruk, Kimmirut, Kugluktuk, Arviat, Gjoa Haven, Chesterfield Inlet, and Iqaluit—ensuring locally relevant training delivery. To expand long-term impact, Ampere also trained nearly 20 community trainers across five communities, enabling adaptation of these programs for additional Indigenous and equity-deserving populations.
The initiative also addressed regional infrastructure challenges through a computer refurbishment and e-recycling program that supported 155 participants while refurbishing and distributing over 310 laptops to learners throughout Nunavut.
Building on this success, DIGITAL announced continued co-investment in 2025 to scale the program nationally. The scale-up initiative reached 895 additional participants, delivering hands-on microcredentials, work-integrated learning, and career readiness training aligned with high-demand digital sectors such as coding, app development, e-commerce, project management, and computer refurbishment. Through collaboration with nearly 80 employers, the program created 145 paid internships, providing participants with direct pathways into the workforce.
The project strengthened Canada’s digital innovation ecosystem by connecting 77 industry, community, academic, and nonprofit partners across provinces and territories. By co-designing training with employers and communities, the initiative created a feedback loop that aligned workforce needs with skills development. As a result, 90% of graduates secured employment, with the remainder pursuing further education.
Through community-driven training models, scalable microcredentials, and strong cross-sector collaboration, DigitalWorks has demonstrated an effective national model for inclusive digital workforce development.
