Building Critical Thinkers for the Age of AI: Digital Moment Receives Net Good by CIRA Grant
Digital Moment has received a Net Good by CIRA Grant to bring AI critical thinking skills to more than 600 students across Canada through bilingual, unplugged learning materials built for Grades 3-8.
This work responds to a pattern we're watching closely: young people are already using AI systems, often without the tools to question what those systems tell them. By the time students reach high school and post-secondary, most are using generative AI regularly for schoolwork. A 2025 KPMG Canada survey of students at that stage found more than seven in 10 now rely on it, up sharply from half two years ago.
At the same time, Statistics Canada reports that Canadian business AI adoption has tripled in the past two years alone. Elementary and middle school students haven't been surveyed yet, but the direction is clear: they're growing up into a world, in school, at work, and everywhere in between, where AI increasingly shapes the decisions that affect their lives. The skills to navigate that world safely have to be built long before they arrive at it.
"Young people deserve the chance to develop that judgment before AI is making decisions about their finances, opportunities, relationships, information, and more, not after. That means meeting them where they already are, not waiting for them to find their way to us." – Indra Kubicek, CEO of Digital Moment
That judgement is what's genuinely at stake, and it goes beyond schoolwork. The same KPMG research found nearly half of students say their critical thinking has declined since they started relying on AI. AI models are built to agree, to sound confident, to validate the user, and that agreeableness is easy to mistake for truth, a dynamic we explored in more depth in an earlier blog on youth AI literacy. Teaching students to recognize it early, in a safe, controlled environment, is what prepares them to participate as informed citizens, not just capable employees, wherever AI shows up in their lives next.
This project adapts a recently built AI literacy module into materials for younger learners as part of Digital Moment's AI in Your Everyday Life hub, developed with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and launched in late June, already reaching hundreds of users. Delivery will run through Digital Moment’s volunteer-led Code Clubs, in-person classroom pilots, and national virtual sessions with Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants. All resources will be free and open access. Read CIRA's full announcement.
About Digital Moment
Recognized as a leader in digital and AI literacy education in Canada, Digital Moment is a national charity dedicated to mobilizing communities to create a better future aligned with sustainable development goals. We are committed to providing inclusive and equitable access to these opportunities, with a focus on underrepresented youth, including girls. Since 2013, we have empowered over 34,400 educators and delivered more than 1 million youth engagements through impactful programs and experiences across the country.
About Net Good by CIRA and Net Good Grants
Net Good by CIRA is how CIRA gives back to Canada’s internet. Funded from the revenue generated through .CA domains, the program supports communities, projects and policies that make Canada’s internet a better place. Grants are one of Net Good’s most valuable contributions, with over $15 million invested in hundreds of community-led internet projects across the country that address infrastructure, online safety and policy engagement needs.
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