VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 5, 2026 /CNW/ -- Gigsup founder Stephanie Brown pitches her career intelligence platform on CBC's Dragons' Den tonight and has opened it to Canadian schools. The episode airs at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC and CBC Gem.

The thing parents are right about

In a May 2026 Leger survey, 81% of Canadians worried about AI chatbots' potential harm to children and teens.

"If you don't want your teenager handing her life to an app, good. Neither do I," Brown said. "But software already screens her résumé. Keeping her away from AI doesn't keep the algorithms away from her."

A mandate schools can't staff

Most provinces make career education a graduation requirement, yet Gigsup's analysis of provincial data finds one school counsellor per 472 students.

"Counsellors do remarkable work with impossible ratios," Brown said. "Every student deserves a career team at every step."

How gigsup works

Gigsup starts with a career wallet, a living record that learns from what a student shares: assignments, transcripts, projects and journal check-ins.

AI agents then work on her behalf. They match her to careers, showing wages, regional demand and live job postings for each, build her course and admission plans, find scholarships, and connect her with mentors, co-ops and internships. A counsellor and parent portal shows every plan and tracks provincial graduation requirements.

Five things a parent can check

• Who pays. Schools pay $10 per student a year. No ads.
• What it learns from. Her career wallet and real labour-market data.
• It shows its work. Every match explains why.
• It decides nothing. It recommends. She and her parents decide.
• She owns her data. It's stored in Canada, never sold, and she can delete it anytime.

Where gigsup is today

Brown spent a decade at lululemon before founding Gigsup in 2025. Thousands of students have built career wallets, and the school waitlist is growing. Advised by D2L co-founder Jeremy Auger, Gigsup won the 2026 Canadian EdTech Startup Challenge.

Opening to canadian schools

Career options shouldn't depend on a postal code. Public, independent and First Nations schools can apply at joingigsup.com/schools, with help finding provincial funding.

About gigsup

Gigsup is Canada's first career intelligence platform and agentic career coach for students. Learn more at joingigsup.com.

SOURCE Gigsup