For many young people, technology is as essential as textbooks once were. Yet access to devices, high-speed internet, and digital learning tools is far from equal. The digital divide means some youth are building skills for the future, while others are left struggling just to connect.
Where the Gaps Show Up
Devices: Some students rely on shared or outdated equipment, limiting their ability to participate fully in school or creative projects.
Internet quality: Rural, northern, and remote communities often face slow or unreliable connections.
Cost barriers: Families already facing financial pressure may not prioritize laptops, tablets, or broadband.
School inequities: Funding differences across districts mean some schools have advanced digital labs while others lack basics.
Canadian Context
Geography matters: Youth in Indigenous and northern communities are disproportionately affected by poor connectivity.
Public programs: Libraries, schools, and community centres offer access, but often with time limits or travel challenges.
Policy response: Governments have announced rural broadband strategies, but rollouts remain slow.
Equity in learning: Students without access during the pandemic faced learning losses that continue to echo.
The Opportunities
Device lending programs: Public and school-based initiatives can level the playing field.
Community hubs: Shared Wi-Fi centres and safe digital access spaces support both learning and belonging.
Policy action: Ensuring rural broadband promises turn into infrastructure, not just headlines.
Youth voice in design: Young people should help shape programs meant to close the digital divide.
The Bigger Picture
Tech access isn’t just about gadgets — it’s about opportunity, equity, and participation. Without fair access, the gap between youth who can fully engage in Canada’s digital society and those who can’t will only widen.
The Question
How can Canada ensure that no young person is left digitally disconnected — and who should take the lead: governments, schools, communities, or industry?
Tech Access and Gaps Among Youth
The Uneven Playing Field
For many young people, technology is as essential as textbooks once were. Yet access to devices, high-speed internet, and digital learning tools is far from equal. The digital divide means some youth are building skills for the future, while others are left struggling just to connect.
Where the Gaps Show Up
Canadian Context
The Opportunities
The Bigger Picture
Tech access isn’t just about gadgets — it’s about opportunity, equity, and participation. Without fair access, the gap between youth who can fully engage in Canada’s digital society and those who can’t will only widen.
The Question
How can Canada ensure that no young person is left digitally disconnected — and who should take the lead: governments, schools, communities, or industry?