Federal government works to get more kids coding

More kids in Sudbury and across the province will be learning code, thanks to the federal government.

The government announced it's spending $2 million in Sudbury to have Science North work to offer hands-on coding and programming courses in schools across the region.

Funding from the CanCode program will also support other technology programs province-wide. The CanCode program is a national $50 million initiativethrough the 2017 federal budget, promised by the Liberal government.

Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre says the training will start for students in elementary school.

"Basically, we're seeing a lot of our kids right now on their telephones," he said.

"They're watching, they're playing games and now this will be teaching them how to create games."

Lefebvre says Science North has established partnerships with all schools boards in northern Ontario, including Indigenous school boards. He says Science North will train teachers so they can pass on the knowledge to students in the classroom.

"Coding is new," he said.

"It's something that not all the teachers have the capacity to teach. So the teaming up with Science North that have that capacity will go a long way for northern Ontario."