Digital Skills In Canada in 2025

Canadian employers say we need digital skills. What does that even mean?

There’s a digital gap growing in Canadian workplaces. Not just between digital adopters and laggards, but between how confident professionals feel about their digital skills and how confident they should feel.

According to a 2024 scoping review by Bancroft, Challen, and Pearce, the term “digital confidence” is inconsistently defined, often mistaken for competence or capabilities. Without a shared understanding, many organizations risk mistaking comfort with tools for readiness to lead, communicate, or judge effectively in digital spaces. As digital transformation deepens across Canadian sectors, this flat-footedness has huge consequences.

In Canada, labour market insights show employers increasingly expect nuanced, transferable digital skills. Yet 76% of professionals don’t feel equipped for the digital future. The result: hidden skill gaps, eroded credibility, and unnecessary workplace friction.

What is Digital Confidence?

Digital confidence isn’t just knowing how to use pivot tables or post on social media. Sure, you it’s good to know how to do that, but there’s more to it.

This concept has a surprising number of layers, many of which get picked up informally across different parts of life. Some digital fluency comes from personal use. Some you pick up at work. But because no single department or team truly owns it, few are looking at the full picture.

That leaves each of us — the individual — at the centre of keeping ourselves in digital balance. Is that fair? Maybe not. But it reflects how digital fluency is actually built today: on the fly, across contexts, and often without full guidance.

To bring some structure to the chaos, we’ve outlined the seven dimensions that, in our view, most significantly shape digital confidence. You won’t find this exact breakdown in other models.  As noted earlier, there isn’t one agreed-upon definition out there. Our version adds something we believe is missing in most frameworks: a standalone focus on digital well-being.

How do I compare to others?

Canada’s digital index score stands at 23/100. The global average is 33. Canadian managers are overestimating their team’s digital readiness.

Get a baseline for yourself or get your team to do the exercise. A warning that the test is a little long but it provides a good Canadian comparative.

Digital Confidence Self-Assessment Tool

(Remember that garbage in = garbage out, so be honest with yourself when filling it in.)

Top In-Demand Digital Confidence Skills in Canada

Yes, knowledge on specific technologies still matters in the Canadian workplace, but that is often role specific. If we look beyond these skills, digital confidence is woven into the story. Here is a synthesized list of what is alluded to, but often not referenced.

How PMC Can Help

If your team is navigating uneven digital confidence, unclear expectations, or tool fatigue, we can help. From hands-on productivity tools to modern communication, leadership, and digital workplace culture, explore our workshops to build clarity and capability:

• Open Workshop Calendar
• Team Workshop Cataglogue

Yes, workshops can help. So does establishing team norms and better habits. Like most things that you are trying to change, it starts with awareness. Are you aware of your gap in digital skills and confidence?