SkillingUp
Supporting Canadians with disabilities with competitive digital skills training.
Project Overview
Updated March 25, 2026.
The Problem
In Canada today, over 6 million Canadians over the age of 15 live with a disability and 39% of unemployed people with disabilities have the potential to work. As demand for digital talent continues to grow and businesses continue to experience a digital skill gap in their workforce, it becomes imperative for the Canadian economy that individuals of all abilities be skilled and equipped with the digital skills that are increasingly in demand across many industries.
How We Are Solving It
Led by March of Dimes Canada, the SkillingUp program aims to support Canadians with disabilities to gain the digital skills needed to become confident digital citizens and remain competitively employable in a digital economy. The program offers training and continued support to learners in securing employment or continuing with ongoing education.
Training pathways range from beginner digital literacy and advance to career essential and advanced digital skill certification. Learners also gain essential employability skills to support their job integration and job search activities, including network expansion through mentorships.
The Result
DIGITAL’s co-investment in SkillingUp, delivered by March of Dimes Canada, expanded access to accessible digital skills training and employment pathways for Canadians with disabilities and other underserved job seekers.
Beginning in 2023, the initiative provided digital skills training to 945 participants, with 100% of learners identifying as members of underrepresented groups in the technology sector. The program delivered accessible training and certifications in areas such as Microsoft Office, artificial intelligence, and cloud technologies, helping participants build foundational digital literacy and job readiness skills needed for tech-enabled roles.
SkillingUp also catalyzed broader organizational change within March of Dimes Canada, embedding digital skills development into strategic programming and future service offerings. As a result, digital literacy became a core component of ongoing support programs, helping clients develop the confidence and competencies needed to participate in an increasingly digital economy.
Building on this success, the initiative expanded nationally to reach more than 2,000 participants, delivering hundreds of industry-recognized certifications and improving digital literacy for learners across Canada. The program combined accessible training with mentorship, personalized learner support, and career readiness coaching to reduce barriers to employment and education.
The project also strengthened Canada’s inclusive workforce development ecosystem by collaborating with more than 50 community service agencies, enabling organizations to connect their clients to a centralized, accessible digital training platform. This approach expanded the reach of digital skills programming while allowing community partners to build capacity without developing their own training infrastructure.
By preparing participants for technology-enabled roles and supporting connections with employers, SkillingUp helped expand Canada’s pool of digitally skilled talent while promoting broader workforce inclusion. The initiative demonstrated a scalable national model for accessible digital training that strengthened economic participation and supported the development of a more inclusive and digitally capable workforce.
Project Lead
Project Partners
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“We want to ensure that all people with disabilities in Canada are prepared for employment success. Living in a digital first world means that skilling, upskilling and re-skilling are essential to remaining competitively employable. SkillingUp ensures people with disabilities have access to sector-recognized training and certification to support them on their career journey."
President and Chief Executive Officer, March of Dimes Canada -
"Supporting equity and diversity within Canada’s technology sector is crucial to our country’s continued growth and prosperity. We’re proud to support the SkillingUp initiative and the work of March of Dimes Canada, Microsoft and the CIBC Foundation in helping to create a more inclusive and innovative Canada.
Director, Digital Learning Lab, DIGITAL -
"As we embrace the transformative power of emerging technologies, Microsoft must ensure that everyone has the opportunity to thrive in a digital, AI-enabled economy. Digital fluency is becoming a crucial skillset within any role, and sector or industry. As such, through the Microsoft Skills for Jobs program we endeavour to make technology skills accessible to all. Our partnership with March of Dimes Canada reflects our commitment to expanding economic opportunities and empowering individuals of all abilities to reach their full potential.
Philanthropies Lead, Microsoft Canada -
“At CIBC we’re creating a culture of inclusion, and accessibility plays a large role in this. We believe that everyone should have access to opportunities to help achieve their ambitions, which is why removing barriers that get in the way of progress is so important. We’re proud to support March of Dimes Canada and the SkillingUp initiative, which will help remove barriers for the next generation of leaders and changemakers.”
Group Head, People, Culture and Brand, CIBC & Co-Chair, CIBC Foundation