Nick Sutherby

As many of you may be aware, for the past few months I have been working with the Community Access Program. This is a program which aims to bring internet connectivity and training to anyone for whom it would be beneficial while addressing the growing digital divide present in Canada. CAP sites are located in community centres, schools, drop in facilities and so forth. This is a federally funded program through Industry Canada and administered in Vancouver through the Vancouver Community Network.

Recently it has come to light that Industry Canada may be looking to cut the program, effectively ending free connection to thousands who benefit and sandbagging non-profit organizations with the task of maintaining and staffing the sites themselves, if they are even able.

The following is a short plea written up in hopes of saving the program. For more information, visit the CAP website or the CAPYI Magazine, and send your own plea to Industry Canada here.

Photo: Rhianon Bader, CAPYI Magazine Intern

Cancel it?! We should be expanding it!
Nick Sutherby

While countries such as Finland are moving to make access to the internet a basic right of its people, even going so far as to mandate minimum speeds to which the population has a right (“Finland makes broadband access a legal right”, 2009), it is unimaginable that funding could be cut to a program, such as the Community Access Program, which strives to bring the internet to more Canadians, helping bridge the digital divide. As Statistics Canada points out the vast majority, 73.2% of Canadians, had access to the internet in 2007 either at home or through school, work or public access point. As the 2007 figures represents a 5.3% growth over the previous two years, we can only assume that this figure is again significantly higher in 2009. This still puts Canada well behind Finland’s near 100% connected rate.

Using 2007 figures, this still means over a quarter of Canadians are without any form of internet access. Perhaps more frightening is the size of the digital divide present in the country. While 92.5% of university graduates have access, an astonishing 56.8% of those who did not complete high school are without access. In a modern era where increasingly information is moved online we are effectively leaving an enormous population behind. Additionally, in 2007, only 68.8% of those in the lowest quartile of income earnings report access to the internet. Interestingly, only 60.7% of those in the second quartile of income earnings have access. This is possibly a result of organizations such as the Vancouver Community Network which strive to provide access to low income households, while families with moderately higher incomes are still left struggling to balance bills, including internet access.

It is unquestionable that organizations, from government, to community groups, to financial institutes are increasingly moving to an online model, and this is reflected in Canadian online activities. In just three years, from 2000-03 online usage for job hunting climbed 7.4%. In four years, from 1999-2003, usage climbed 19.5% for those accessing government information. Over those same four years usage grew 22.8% for online banking, 20% for seeking health information and 15.7% for formal education and training. These are the very tenants that can improve the lives of those in poor socio-economic positions and the undereducated. Bringing access to formal education will make it easier for those without high school diplomas to continue to learn and complete their diplomas on their time without the stigma of embarrassment, which can be associated with returning. This, in turn, can help people achieve better, higher paying employment.

Beyond these basic statistics, in 2005 associate professor Dutta-Bergman of Perdue University published a paper looking into internet access and community participation and satisfaction. Dutta-Bergman found that individuals living in communities with access to the internet are more likely to be satisfied with their communities than individuals living in communities without access (p<.001). Additionally, Dutta-Bergman found that community sports league involvement is higher in communities with access than those without (p<.001), and the same can be said of involvement in youth groups (p<.005), religious organizations (p<.05) and charities (p<.05) (Dutta-Bergman, 2005, p. 98-99, 102). So in addition to providing the tools to upgrade education, be it completion of a high school diploma or other formal training, search more efficiently for employment, and seek out government programs that can be beneficial, it has been demonstrated that internet access in the community improves the overall participation and personal investment in the community.

Internet connectivity can provide a better quality of life, but only if one has the skills to use it. While many of us were fortunate to either grow up with the technology or learned to use it through work, those who are undereducated or who have a low socio-economic status (SES) will have missed these crucial learning experiences. As we all know, technology grows and changes at an alarming rate making it incredibly easy to be left behind. Therefore it is not as simple as providing access points in the community, but we must also provide adequate training to use the technology. The CAP program places interns at their access points offering free group or one-on-one training to those who require it.

In my short time at my CAP site, located in a drop-in centre for people with mental illness in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, I have come across a wide number of people who have minimal computer skills – many of whom who have described computers as “scary”. The more technology develops beyond their skills, the less inclined they are to make an attempt to learn and catch up. This will only serve to exacerbate the problem as the gap grows between them and technology. I have spoken with a number of people who have been out of the job force for years, and who are unsure how to re-enter as they lack an up to date resume, or they do not know how to search for work in another town, city or province. While it doesn’t take much to point a person in the right direction, coach and reassure them with regards to finding information on the internet, it does take a trained person to be present.

During my time at the drop in centre I have helped a number of people create or update resumes and begin searching for work. A number of those people are now employed again thanks to the ease of access the CAP program provides. Additionally, I have helped a number of older people with e-mail and facebook access to improve their communication with businesses, friends and family members. It is the older members of the population who represent the least connected sector, with just 28.8% reporting access to the internet in 2008. Thus far in my time with CAP, the clients I have served have all represented the most marginalized groups, be it seniors over 65, those without high school and the lowest quartile of earnings. It seems unimaginable to remove this program and the assistance interns like myself can provide these diverse groups.

In a report for Statistics Canada, George Sciadas reported in 2000 the top income earners represented 16.1% of new internet users, while the bottom income earners represented a mere 3.4% of new users. While these statistics are certainly outdated a decade on, this marked a continuing trend over the previous four years, and almost certainly continued to present. While the CAP mandate is to provide free public access to everyone, it invariably benefits these marginalized groups significantly.

The CAP program is incredibly important to these people, many of whom thank me on a daily basis. Far from being cut, this program should be expanded with the goal of providing a point of access to every Canadian, and the skills to match over the next few years. It is unthinkable in this day-and-age, with the expansion of technology and the move of services to an online model, that we would consider leaving those of poor socio-economic status even further behind. Within the next few years more and more countries are going to follow Finland’s lead. It would be a tragedy to handicap our own citizens on the world stage by preventing them access to the resources and knowledge the Community Access Program provides.

References

Dutta-Bergman, M.J. (2005). Access to the internet in the context of community participation and community satisfaction. New Media & Society, 7, 89-109.

Sciadas, G. (2002). The Digital Divide in Canada. (Catalogue number 56F0009XIE). Ottawa, Ontario: Statistics Canada. Retrieved December 7, 2009 from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=56F0009X

Statistics Canada. 2009. Characteristics of individuals using the Internet, by location of access. (Table numbers 358-0123, 358-0124, 358-0125 and 358-0126). Retrieved December 7, 2009 from http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/comm35a-eng.htm

Statistics Canada. 2005. Household Internet use at home by Internet activity. (Catalogue number 56F0003X). Retrieved December 7, 2009 from http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/comm09a-eng.htm

Finland makes broadband access a legal right. (2009, October 12). The Guardian. Accessed December 7, 2009 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/oct/14/finland-broadband