Google Canada promises $ 2 million to re-skill job seekers

Google Canada promises $ 2 million to re-skill job seekers

This morning, Google Canada announced a $ 2 million commitment to help train Canadian job seekers for new careers in technology.

The initiative includes a three-year Google.org grant to award the Google Certificate Program to NPower Canada and 5,000 need-based scholarships to access the program. The goal is to train job seekers with new skills in less than six months.

Enpower Canada Chief Development Officer Andrew Reddin said the organization began offering Google's IT support certificate last year. 83 percent of youth graduating in September 2020 are employed or receiving new education after completion of the program.

“These programs are filling the demand in the job market; According to Glassdoor, today there are more than 22,000 employment opportunities in areas supported by Google Career Certification across the country. Google's support gives young adults more opportunities to start their careers and participate in Canada's digital economy, ”he said in a news release on 17 May.

According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate among visible minority groups and youth aged 15-24 over the past year is higher than Canadians who are not Indigenous, a young or visible minority with an unemployment rate of 0.5 percent. Has fallen to 7.5 percent. . .

"To help job seekers who have been most affected by the epidemic, we need to invest in skills training in jobs," said Sabrina Geremia, vice president and country director of Google Canada. "Google Career Certification creates an onramp for great jobs with no degree or experience, helping to break down barriers and create opportunities for ineligible groups to enter the technical workforce."

Outside of NPower Canada's programming, the new certifications are delivered through Courcera's online learning platform and are available in English, with select programs available in French starting in 2022.

Google Canada says it is also providing the Google Career Certificate Employers Association for scholarship graduates. The Employers Association is a group of employers, including KPMG, TELUS, Google and Loblaw, who will consider graduates of NPower Canada's Google Career Certificate programs for qualified jobs.

Employers interested in engaging with skilled candidates and enhancing their talent can connect with the Google Career Certificate Employer Consortium by visiting this page. More information about the program can also be found on NPower's website.