Google Canada yesterday announced a $500,000 Google.org grant towards ComIT’s Recoding Futures information technology (IT) training program to provide free digital skills training to Indigenous job seekers across Canada.
ComIT, a registered Canadian charity, provides free training and professional development opportunities in IT. Its courses are taught by IT professionals working at top firms, with a curated curriculum to equip graduates to meet the needs of the immediate labour market.
Through the program, ComIT, together with Google Canada, will provide IT training to 450 Indigenous learners across Canada. The one-month online introductory program will cover topics such as HTML, CSS and Javascript, equipping the next generation of IT professionals with the skills needed to start their learning path.
In a second phase, ComIT says it will offer three-month online programs to train interested people in technologies needed in the labour market. During this phase, students will study 8 hours/week online, where they will be taught basic logic required to code, and coding languages such as Java, .Net and React, among others. The courses offered will be determined by job openings across Canada. Soft skills and help with networking will also be included in these programs, explains ComIT.
In addition, Google Canada announced it is providing $100,000 in funding to support Indspire, an Indigenous national charity that invests in the education of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people for the long-term benefit of these individuals, their families and communities, and Canada. Google Canada says this funding will be used towards Indspire’s education and job training programs and an allocation of Google Career Certificate scholarships for Indigenous job seekers.
This $600,000 support is in addition to Google Canada’s $2 million commitment to reskill job seekers for new careers in technology in under six months, announced earlier this year.