Feds fund UBC Geering Up to give more kids coding powers

Geering Up, a UBC non-profit organization that seeks to stimulate interest in science, engineering and technology among BC children and youth, has received $260,000 under the Canadian government’s CanCode program.

The new program aims to support initiatives that teach coding and other essential digital skills to K-12 Canadian youth. Of the $50 million total investment, $10 million will go to Actua, Canada’s largest STEM outreach program, of which Geering Up is one of 35 university- and college-based members.

Geering Up delivers engaging, accessible STEM-related experiences to kids through summer camps, high school workshops and after-school clubs. Over the past two decades, Geering Up’s outreach and community-based efforts have reached more than 100,000 boys and girls from a diverse range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds across the province.

The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced the CanCode funding recipients at the Microsoft campus in Mississauga, Ontario, earlier this week.

Government of Canada News Release: Giving young Canadians the digital skills needed for jobs of the future