• Industry Canada should explore the viability of establishing provincial-level not-for-profit Community Development Foundations. The purpose of these foundations would be to disseminate sustainability funding and other resources from Industry Canada and other sponsors to community organizations operating CAP sites. Membership for the foundations should be drawn from community organizations that operate or benefit from CAP services. Community organizations best understand the unique needs of their community. As such, they are more likely to be effective in awarding support than centralized national institutions acting alone. Funding and other support should be awarded to community-based not-for-profit applicants, using a meritbased application process. Experience to date has shown that an application process featuring competition between groups risks distorting support and services in a community. As well, such an approach can alienate interests in communities whose applications are rejected.
• There should be more involvement by the business community, locally and nationally, to support Internet access initiatives in Canada. While businesses in Canada have made some contributions, these efforts tend to lag behind the efforts of other countries, particularly the United States. Many of Canada’s leading companies have yet to make significant contributions.

HRDC Roles for Individual and Community Capacity Development

• HRDC’s Skills and Learning Agenda should address the digital divide issue as it is broadly conceived, as discussed in this report. HRDC should take a lead role in supporting programs and initiatives at the community level to address these challenges.