Actua receives $12 million from CanCode, marking second investment from the program

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Actua, an organization providing STEM education programs to Canadian youth, has received $12 million in funding from the federal government’s CanCode program.

This investment comes a year and a half after the government’s $10 million investment in Actua through Cancode

This marks the second CanCode investment into the Ottawa-based charity, with the government injecting $10 million in January 2018. This new funding comes under CanCode’s second phase. The program is aimed to help both K-12 students learn digital skills, such as coding, data analytics, and digital content development. It will also go toward helping teachers incorporate digital skills and technologies into their classrooms.

“Technology has transformed our everyday lives in many ways, including the skills we need to excel in the working world,” said Marco Mendicino, parliamentary secretary to the minister of infrastructure and communities.

Through the investment, Actua will offer 900,500 coding and digital skills training opportunities to students and will provide programming to 16,350 teachers across the country to gain or perfect their skills to teach coding in their classrooms. Actua’s last investment was aimed to engage 500,000 youth across every province and territory.

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Founded in 1993, Actua provides financial and STEM content resources to its network members across Canada, some of which include Simply Science at the Nunavut Research Institute, Adventure Kids at the University of Winnipeg, and SuperNOVA at Dalhousie University. Its members host school workshops, camps, clubs, and events in urban and rural communities that network members run locally. Actua claims it reaches 250,000 youth annually through its 35 university and college-based members, and a national outreach team.

“Learning digital skills and coding, and how technology can help drive innovation, will help open so many doors to our next generation,” said Mendicino. “Giving the opportunity for all children to become tech-savvy and learn coding is important to ensuring they are set up for success, and it will also help strengthen our economy for many years to come.”

CanCode is a two-year, $110 million federal program, created to support opportunities for K-12 students to learn digital skills like coding, data analytics, and digital content development. Earlier this month, Canada Learning Code received $9.4 million from CanCode, MindFuel received $2 million, and First Robotics received $1.4 million.

Image courtesy Actua via Facebook

Isabelle Kirkwood

Isabelle Kirkwood

Isabelle is a Vancouver-based writer with 5+ years of experience in communications and journalism and a lifelong passion for telling stories. For over two years, she has reported on all sides of the Canadian startup ecosystem, from landmark venture deals to public policy, telling the stories of the founders putting Canadian tech on the map.

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