IT Leaders in Canada Having Difficulty Filling Tech Positions, Want More Coding Education

IT leaders are concerned about the availability of talent in Canada, a new report has found.

55 per cent consider the ability to recruit and retain workers with the right skill important to helping Canadian technology firms compete globally. 40 per cent of IT leaders had trouble recruiting IT professionals with the right skills and 46 per cent had difficulty filling a position in the last 12 months.

In advance of its annual Canadian Internet Forum, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority has released a report on technology, skills, and Canada’s competitiveness. According to the report, 73 per cent of IT leaders agreed that we need ‘made-in-Canada’ solutions to our major technology challenges.

This research is part of CIRA’s work with the Strategic Counsel to study Canadian Internet trends. The project surveyed 1,200 Canadian Internet users and 300 leaders in Canadian IT firms.

Internet users see connectivity as critical to both the ability of Canadians to learn new skills (75%) and for support children’s education (68%), the report shows, and six in ten Internet users surveyed agreed that students should be taught basic programming/coding skills in high school. Among the 300 IT decision makers surveyed, 88 per cent believed coding should be part of the core secondary school curriculum.

Organizations like BrainStation are looking to counter this trend in Canada by offering anyone the opportunity to learn prorgamming skills.