Digital Moment (Montréal, QC): Youth Digital Literacy in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal

Introduction

Digital Moment is an organization based in Montréal that works to improve digital literacy education among youth, educators, and communities across Canada [1]. Founded in 2013 as Kids Code Jeunesse, the organization later expanded to include artificial intelligence (AI) literacy, cybersecurity awareness, digital citizenship, and ethical technology use [2]. Its programs place particular emphasis on underserved youth, including girls, newcomer youth, Indigenous youth, and students from low-income communities [1].

Digital literacy refers to the ability to access, understand, evaluate, create, and use digital information safely and responsibly [15]. Access to technology alone does not guarantee that young people can evaluate online information, recognize risks, or use digital tools ethically. Recent Statistics Canada data show that more than 8 in 10 Canadian youth encountered online content they suspected was false, while 71% saw content that could incite hate or violence [3]. These risks show why digital literacy must include critical thinking and responsible technology use and not only access to devices.

What distinguishes Digital Moment is its integrated model for digital literacy education. The organization describes its mission as equipping youth with the skills to harness emerging technologies and tackle pressing societal challenges [2]. It does this by combining three interconnected elements: technical learning, in which youth develop foundational and applied skills in coding, AI, and data; critical engagement, in which participants learn to question how digital systems work, who designs them, and what their broader social consequences are; and youth leadership, in which young people are supported to apply these skills to real community problems through design thinking, SDG-connected projects, and peer-led roundtables [2, 4]. It was first tested in Montréal classrooms and later scaled across Canada through a train-the-trainer model. This approach reflects the organization's belief that a true "digital moment" occurs when a young person understands not only how to use technology but also its transformative power and their own capacity to shape it [2].

Digital Moment addresses these challenges through programs including the Social Innovation Lab, Experience AI educator training, cybersecurity education workshops, and youth leadership programs connected to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [4]. The purpose of this Community Knowledge Publication (CKP) is to examine the community challenges related to youth digital literacy in Montréal, the populations most affected, and the programs Digital Moment has developed in response.

Background: Key Local Challenges

Challenge 1: Digital Inequality and Unequal Access to Digital Learning

Internet use among Canadian youth is widespread, but access to meaningful digital education remains uneven across income levels and social groups. Research shows that the digital divide is no longer limited to devices or internet connection. The divide includes access to skills, mentorship, safe online environments, and opportunities to use technology critically and creatively [5]. Youth from low-income households, newcomer families, Indigenous communities, and racialized communities often face barriers that limit participation in digital learning opportunities outside formal school settings [6].

These inequalities are particularly concentrated in Montréal. The city contains one of the highest proportions of low-income neighbourhoods in Canada. According to Réseau réussite Montréal, 35.8% of all low-income neighbourhoods in Canada are in Montreal, compared to 15.7% in Toronto and 7.1% in Vancouver [8]. In neighbourhoods like Parc-Extension and Saint-Michel, the conditions are especially worse. Parc-Extension is home to 68% visible minority residents, the highest proportion on the island of Montréal, and 90% of its residents are first- or second-generation immigrants, with 38% of the population living on a low income according to Centraide du Grand Montréal's 2024 analysis of 2021 Census data [16]. This analysis also found that the poverty rate of recent immigrants across the city is 2.5 times higher than that of non-immigrants, and the poverty rate of non-permanent residents including asylum seekers and international students is five times higher than the overall population [16]. For families in these circumstances, the cost of devices, internet subscriptions, and digital learning programs represents a genuine barrier, even as schools increasingly rely on online platforms and AI-supported tools. Youth who do not receive structured digital education outside school are more likely to engage with technology primarily through passive consumption such as social media and entertainment, leaving critical gaps in their ability to evaluate, create, and navigate digital environments. This unequal access to digital learning is a predictable outcome of structural inequality that organized community programming must directly address.

Challenge 2: AI Literacy and Critical Technology Use

The rapid growth of generative AI has changed how young people interact with technology. AI literacy means understanding how AI tools work, what their limits are, and how to use them critically and ethically. Youth may know how to use AI tools for school or entertainment, but this does not mean they understand how these systems produce answers, reproduce bias, or influence decision making. A 2024 study by Karran and colleagues at HEC Montréal, surveying students, teachers, and parents on educational AI in Quebec, found that these stakeholders weigh perceived usefulness, justice, confidence, and risk differently when judging the acceptability of AI in schools, supporting the need for programs that address both technical skills and ethical judgment [9].

The consequences of low AI literacy extend beyond classrooms. Statistics Canada reported that more than 8 in 10 young Canadians encountered online content they suspected to be false, while youth were less likely than older adults to express concern about misinformation online [3]. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has also warned that AI tools are making phishing attacks and online scams more convincing and accessible [10]. This issue matters with particular urgency in Montréal because the city's schools serve students from dozens of ethnocultural communities, many of whom are navigating language, curriculum, and digital learning demands simultaneously [8, 16]. In Parc-Extension alone, 69% of residents speak a language other than French or English as their mother tongue [16], meaning that AI literacy education delivered only in the dominant school languages may not fully reach the families most affected by digital exclusion. As Canada's recognized AI hub, Montréal is at the centre of AI development and deployment [2], making it both the city where the need for community-based AI literacy is most urgent and the city best positioned to model what an equitable response looks like.

Challenge 3: Cybersecurity and Online Safety Among Youth

Cybervictimization refers to online harms such as harassment, threats, identity misuse, unwanted sharing of personal information, or other harmful digital interactions. At the national level, Statistics Canada reported that one in four Canadian youth experienced at least one form of cybervictimization in 2022 [11]. Experiences of online harm are not evenly distributed: transgender and non-binary youth reported significantly higher rates of cybervictimization than cisgender youth, while youth with chronic conditions also experienced elevated risks [11]. These findings matter because online safety risks are shaped not only by identity but also by the social conditions in which youth live, learn, and seek support.

A 2023 study by Gyan and colleagues examining the resettlement and mental health service experiences of immigrant and refugee youth in Montréal found that newcomer youth commonly navigate overlapping challenges. The challenges include language barriers, financial stress, interrupted schooling, and uncertainty about their immigration status, all of which limit their ability to seek out and trust the services and support systems available to them [12]. In digital safety, the youth and families who need information the most are often the least likely to get it. They struggle to access critical resources on online privacy, phishing, hate content, and misinformation, because institutional channels like schools and government websites are rarely in their fluent languages. Additionally, these families are still figuring out how to navigate these unfamiliar systems. Digital Moment's community outreach programming directly addresses this barrier. The organization recognizes that effective cybersecurity education cannot rely solely on formal digital channels. Instead, it must be delivered through trusted community spaces and provided in highly accessible formats [4].

These three challenges form a deeply connected picture of structural inequality. First, the digital divide determines which young people have the chance to develop meaningful digital skills in the first place. Next, the AI literacy gap determines whether those who do gain access to technology can actually engage with it critically and safely. Finally, the modern cybersecurity landscape leaves youth who lack both access and literacy to face educational disadvantages, as well as online harm. In a city like Montréal, community-based digital literacy programs like Digital Moment's work are crucial because they recognize these three obstacles as a single interconnected ecosystem rather than distinct problems.

The Affected Community and Its Needs

Montréal Demographics and Youth Served

Digital Moment primarily serves youth aged 5 to 22, with attention to underserved populations including girls, newcomer youth, Indigenous youth, and youth from low-income communities [4]. The organization also works with educators and community partners who support these populations in schools and community settings. These groups should not be treated as interchangeable or assumed to face the same barriers. A newcomer girl from a low-income household in Parc-Extension may be navigating language barriers, financial stress, and limited access to trusted digital safety resources at the same time. An Indigenous youth in a remote northern community may face geographic isolation from digital programming entirely. A transgender or non-binary youth in Montréal-Nord may face elevated cybervictimization risks alongside limited peer or institutional support. These intersecting experiences of disadvantage mean that effective digital literacy programming cannot rely on a single design or delivery model.

Montréal's demographic profile makes this intersectionality especially important to understand locally. According to the 2021 Census, 38.8% of the Island of Montréal's population identified as members of a visible minority group [7]. Centraide du Grand Montréal's 2024 analysis found that the poverty rate among visible minorities is twice that of non-visible minorities, and that being both an immigrant and a member of a visible minority group further increases the risk of poverty [16]. In the borough of Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension, 43% of residents are immigrants [8], and in the Parc-Extension neighbourhood specifically, 90% of residents are first- or second-generation immigrants, 69% speak a language other than French or English as their mother tongue, and 38% live on a low income [16]. In Montréal-Nord, six neighbourhoods have single-parent family rates of 40% or higher, and the borough contains some of the city's highest concentrations of Black residents, many facing compounding structural disadvantages in income, housing, and access to services [16]. These statistics describe the specific neighbourhoods and communities where gaps in digital literacy are most likely to go unaddressed and where Digital Moment's programming is most critically needed.

Participant Voices and Testimonials

Participant testimonials from Digital Moment's Social Innovation Lab offer individual examples of how some youth describe the program's impact. One participant explained that although they used digital tools regularly in school, the Lab helped them understand both the opportunities and risks associated with AI and technology more broadly [4]. Another described learning that AI is not inherently good or bad, but depends on how people choose to use it [4]. A third participant described discovering a whole new world beyond using technology for school assignments, one defined by understanding how technology works, who it is designed to serve, and how young people can participate in shaping it [4]. While these testimonials do not represent all youth served by Digital Moment, they illustrate how structured programming can support some participants in moving from everyday technology use toward more careful engagement with the digital world.

Educators as Part of the Affected Community

Educators also represent an important part of the affected community. Teachers increasingly face pressure to integrate digital tools and AI into classrooms while addressing issues such as misinformation, plagiarism, privacy, and online safety, often with limited training in these rapidly evolving areas. In Montréal's multilingual schools, this pressure is compounded by the challenge of teaching digital literacy concepts to students who speak many different home languages and who may have had very different prior experiences with technology depending on where and how they grew up. Digital Moment's educator-focused initiatives therefore support not only students directly, but also the teachers and community workers responsible for guiding youth through digital environments.

Digital Moment's Programs and Initiatives Addressing Local Challenges

Digital Moment's programs are designed as a coherent response to the three challenges described above: they work together to address unequal access to digital education, close the AI and critical literacy gap, and build the cybersecurity awareness that underserved youth in Montréal need to navigate digital environments safely. Each initiative targets a distinct but overlapping dimension of this challenge, using a combination of direct youth programming, educator training, and community outreach to reach young people across different settings and age groups [4].

Social Innovation Lab

The Social Innovation Lab is one of Digital Moment’s key youth programs. Designed for youth aged 14 to 18, the program combines digital literacy education with social innovation and leadership development [13]. Participants engage in hands-on activities related to AI literacy, cybersecurity, design thinking, and ethical technology use while developing projects connected to real world social issues. Youth work together to explore how technology can address community challenges while also discussing risks such as algorithmic bias, which refers to unfair patterns that can appear when digital systems are trained on incomplete or unequal data. According to Digital Moment’s public reporting, the program has achieved high participant satisfaction and has expanded through school partnerships [4]. This program directly responds to the AI literacy gap described in Challenge 2 by equipping youth to engage with technology not only as users, but as informed, ethical participants who can evaluate and shape the digital systems that increasingly define their communities.

Experience AI

Experience AI is a national educator training initiative developed through partnerships with the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Google DeepMind [14]. The program provides teachers with accessible resources and workshops designed to help them introduce AI concepts responsibly in classroom settings. Rather than focusing only on technical instruction, Experience AI encourages educators to discuss ethical questions surrounding AI, including privacy, misinformation, bias, and responsible use [14]. The program can indirectly reach large numbers of students across diverse school environments since educators act as key intermediaries. This initiative expands Digital Moment's response to Challenge 2 into schools serving some of Montréal's most linguistically and culturally diverse student groups by strengthening educator ability to teach AI literacy across subject areas.

Digital2030 Challenge and Digital Leaders

The Digital2030 Challenge encourages youth to connect digital skills with global social issues through projects linked to the United Nations SDGs [4]. Participants use tools such as digital storytelling, data visualization, and AI supported creativity to explore themes including inequality, sustainability, and social responsibility. The Digital Leaders program runs alongside this initiative, hosting youth roundtables focused on ethical technology use and social impact [4]. These initiatives all together help young people think critically about how emerging technologies influence their communities and daily lives. These initiatives address all three challenges simultaneously, inviting youth to see technology not as a neutral tool but as a force whose design and use either widens or narrows inequality.

Cybersecurity Education and Community Outreach

Digital Moment has expanded its cybersecurity education initiatives in response to growing concerns about online harms. The organization developed educator guides and community workshops focused on phishing awareness, online privacy, misinformation, and responsible AI use [4]. Community outreach remains a central part of the organization’s approach: through partnerships with schools, libraries, and local organizations, Digital Moment delivers digital literacy programming to youth who may not otherwise have access to these opportunities, including through partnerships with Indigenous and remote communities in Northern Québec [4].

Across all programs, the publicly available sources reviewed for this CKP do not consistently provide Montréal specific breakdowns by neighbourhood, language, income, immigration status, disability, or Indigenous identity. Digital Moment’s 2023–2024 Annual Report reports aggregate national figures, such as 184,520 youth reached and 54% girls in the Social Innovation Lab, but does not always specify which communities within Montréal are accessing each program, which groups remain harder to reach, or how language accessibility is addressed across different initiatives [4]. The existence of programming does not automatically mean that the youth most affected by digital exclusion are being consistently reached. This calls for future reporting that makes equity outcomes more visible so that the stakeholders can identify where additional outreach or targeted programming may still be needed. This initiative responds to Challenge 3 by delivering safety-focused programming into the community spaces and trusted relationships that youth in Montréal's most underserved areas are most likely to access.

AI Use

For this CKP, I used ChatGPT and Gemini to support source discovery, draft organization, and revision planning. All sources surfaced through AI tools were independently checked before being included in this publication. I wrote and revised the CKP text myself.