A Race for Talent: Insights from Canadian Cybersecurity Employers

We conducted research with cybersecurity employers to understand their hiring practices and needs.

Cyber talent demand in Canada continues to increase amidst an acute shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals. Employers are faced with the challenge of attracting, recruiting and retaining this talent to meet the growing needs of the cybersecurity sector.

To make the sector more accessible to Canadians from diverse backgrounds, the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst launched the Accelerated Cybersecurity Training Program (ACTP) in 2020. This program is specifically designed to give women, new Canadians, and workers seeking employment the skills they need to launch a career in the cybersecurity sector.

For this employer research, the Blueprint and Catalyst teams reached out to 49 mid-to-senior professionals in 23 medium-to-large organizations with whom the ACTP team had close relationships and invited them to complete the ACTP Employment Partners Survey. Of these 23 employers, 17 completed or partially completed the survey, for a response rate of 74%.

The purpose of the main report is to share findings from what we learned from these employers. In this summary, we share the key questions addressed by this research, the high-level findings that speak to these questions and recommendations for programs like the ACTP and for cybersecurity employers to effectively address the growing gap between demand and supply of cybersecurity talent in Canada

Read the report now.

Cyber talent demand in Canada continues to increase amidst an acute shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals. Employers are faced with the challenge of attracting, recruiting and retaining this talent to meet the growing needs of the cybersecurity sector.

To make the sector more accessible to Canadians from diverse backgrounds, the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst launched the Accelerated Cybersecurity Training Program (ACTP) in 2020. This program is specifically designed to give women, new Canadians, and workers seeking employment the skills they need to launch a career in the cybersecurity sector.

For this employer research, the Blueprint and Catalyst teams reached out to 49 mid-to-senior professionals in 23 medium-to-large organizations with whom the ACTP team had close relationships and invited them to complete the ACTP Employment Partners Survey. Of these 23 employers, 17 completed or partially completed the survey, for a response rate of 74%.

The purpose of the main report is to share findings from what we learned from these employers. In this summary, we share the key questions addressed by this research, the high-level findings that speak to these questions and recommendations for programs like the ACTP and for cybersecurity employers to effectively address the growing gap between demand and supply of cybersecurity talent in Canada

Read the report now.

Want to learn more? Read our research papers for a wide range of ideas to strengthen career guidance:

August 1, 2022

Responsive Career Pathways Research Brief: Guiding Careers for the Future

The Responsive Career Pathways Research Brief consolidates key findings from our past 9 research papers in partnership with the Future Skills Centre. In this brief, we outline key innovation challenges and opportunities for career guidance services in Canada, and highlight common barriers to accessing these services.

English ReportFrench Report
November 25, 2021

Breaking Down Barriers to Career Development

Career guidance systems could be designed with a whole-of-person lens. This paper considers promising practices in breaking down barriers to career guidance for Canadians.

English ReportFrench Report
November 22, 2021

Navigating Canada’s Messy Education and Training Marketplace for Career-Focused Learning

Adult learners have to navigate an increasingly diverse, fragmented and complex education and training marketplace. This paper assesses options helping Canadian learners navigate their education and learning choices.

English ReportFrench Report
November 19, 2021

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Responsive Career Pathways

The path to accessing career guidance is challenging for racialized people, women and newcomers to Canada. This paper offers opportunities to strengthen our publicly-funded employment systems to effectively address labour market inequity.

English ReportFrench Report
November 17, 2021

The Role of Employers in Responsive Career Pathways

Employers are critical in establishing more responsive career pathways for Canadians. This paper outlines some of the challenges and opportunities employers are facing related to the future of work and skills.

English ReportFrench Report
November 17, 2021

The Career Development Profession in Canada and the Emergence of Online/Multi-Modal Practice Delivery

Career development practitioners have a critical role to play in helping Canadians prepare for the future of work. This paper tackles questions about the role of career development practitioners and the evolution of their practice.

English ReportFrench Report
November 17, 2021

Applying Behavioural Insights to Career Guidance

Offering forward-looking, customized, high-quality and accessible career guidance to a wide range of Canadians is possible. This paper identifies behavioural and motivational barriers to accessing career guidance and offers a promising path ahead.

English ReportFrench Report
November 17, 2021

Use of Technology and Tools in Responsive Career Pathways

The role and use of technologies that help individuals and career practitioners navigate career pathways are rapidly evolving. This paper outlines potential ways responsive career pathways can be enabled by technology.

English ReportFrench Report
November 16, 2021

Glossary of Terms

This document provides consistent definitions for the terms that are applied across all of the research papers for the Responsive Career Pathways initiative.

English ReportFrench Report
November 16, 2021

A Roadmap for Change: Building Responsive Career Pathways in a Post-Pandemic World

This paper offers considerations for strengthening and aligning our careers and employment systems to better serve Canadians across their career trajectory.

English ReportFrench Report
November 15, 2021

Labour Market Information in Responsive Career Pathways

Finding ways to make labour market information accessible and useful for service providers and individuals is key for creating more responsive career pathways.

English ReportFrench Report

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