The bad news: Canada lacks the supply of IT talent it needs to meet demand. The good news? Well, at least we're not suffering more than other countries around the world.
According to this article in the National Post, which looks at global trends tracked by
IBM Corp. as well as Canadian statistics from the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) and Deloitte, Canada has a systemic problem when it comes to IT workers.
First of all, not enough students are getting into technology careers, particularly those that are in the highest demand (such as data science), explains a Canadian university professor quoted in the article. Meanwhile, skilled immigrants are finding it difficult to find jobs in Canada for a variety of reasons, including a reluctance on the part of employers to hire foreign-trained professionals and inefficient government policies, says a consultant.
As the article notes, the demand for IT pros means higher salaries, but so far, this hasn't seemed to have attracted more people into the field.
RELATED CONTENT