Skills Gaps Now Outrank Staffing Shortages in Cybersecurity Hiring, New Workforce Research Finds

Global research puts skills gaps 20 points ahead of staffing shortages, while Canadian job postings hit a seven-quarter high with a narrow entry door.

CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA, September 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — New international workforce research finds that cybersecurity teams are more often short of specific skills than short of people — a distinction that changes what employers look for when they hire.

The 2026 SANS | GIAC Cybersecurity Workforce Research Report, published March 31, 2026, surveyed 947 security and talent-acquisition leaders across six regions. Sixty per cent identified skills gaps on their existing teams as the greater problem, against 40 per cent citing staffing shortages — a 20-point spread that widened from four points a year earlier. Twenty-seven per cent of organizations reported a breach tied directly to a capability gap.

Canadian hiring data points in a similar direction. The Canadian Cybersecurity Network’s Workforce Intelligence Brief for the second quarter of 2026, published July 26, 2026, recorded 663 cybersecurity job postings between April and June — a seven-quarter high and 23.7 per cent above the first quarter. The report’s authors caution that part of that increase reflects wider collection on their job board rather than new demand, and that the figures describe postings gathered on one Canadian job board rather than the national labour market.

Composition matters as much as volume. Protection and Defence roles — security operations, incident response, vulnerability and threat analysis — made up 51.9 per cent of those postings, with Oversight and Governance accounting for a further 25 per cent. Entry-level and junior roles made up 4.1 per cent, a share the report describes as roughly unchanged across every quarter it has tracked. Among credentials named in postings, CISSP appeared in 35.1 per cent, Azure in 27.1 per cent, ISO 27001 in 23.1 per cent and CompTIA Security+ in 16.3 per cent. Ontario accounted for 62.1 per cent of postings; Alberta recorded 43, down 21.8 per cent on the previous quarter.

“This research is telling employers something uncomfortable and telling training providers something useful,” said Dr. Mohammad Baten, President and CEO of ABM College. “Organizations are not simply asking for more candidates. They are asking for people who can do specific things — network defence, systems fundamentals, governance — and who can demonstrate it. That is an argument for training that builds foundations and maps to recognized credentials, not for shortcuts.”

The same SANS research found that employers most often validate skills through certifications (64 per cent) and skills assessments (49 per cent), ahead of academic credentials (17 per cent).

ABM College’s cybersecurity diploma online in Canada runs 70 weeks and includes a five-week practicum placement. Coursework covers PC hardware and software troubleshooting, Windows client and server administration, Linux fundamentals, Active Directory infrastructure, Cisco routing and switching, cryptology and data protection, network security, mobile device security and security analysis. The program includes exam preparation for CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+ and Microsoft Windows administration; certification exam vouchers are purchased separately by students. It is delivered online, in person or in hybrid format, with morning, evening and weekend scheduling, and is offered in person as a cybersecurity diploma in Calgary and a cybersecurity diploma in Toronto, as well as at the college’s Winnipeg campus.

Admission requires Grade 12 completion or equivalent, passing Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam and Accuplacer scores, and an admissions interview. Mature student admission is available to applicants aged 18 or over who have been out of high school for at least two years. Government student aid and Windmill Microlending financing are available to qualifying students.

ABM College operates campuses in Calgary, Toronto and Winnipeg and offers career-focused certificate and diploma programs across the health, business and technology sectors.

Kiran Vijay S
ABM College
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ABM College cybersecurity instructor Soumik Das on teaching the field

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