Microsoft Canada expands its skills program to 8 more colleges and universities

Microsoft Canada has announced the inclusion of eight post-secondary institutions in its Canada Skills Program, bringing a total of 20 schools across six provinces across Canada.

The company launched the Canada Skills Program in the fall in 2020 at 12 post-secondary institutions in hopes of increasing data and AI skills and employing more than 4,500 Canadian students. The program has been successful with participation of over 20,000 students in the first six months.

On March 23, Microsoft added eight post-secondary institutions to Canada's Skills Program:

New Brunswick Community College (New Brunswick)

Georgian College (Ontario)

Collège La Cité (Ontario)

McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business (Ontario)

University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies (Ontario)

University of Waterloo (Ontario)

LaSalle College Vancouver (British Columbia)

Red River College (Manitoba)

"One of the key things we have to identify is how to build this feedback loop to successfully do a job, the skills that can be acquired for that job successfully, and then the credentials that Can be one. Once you pick up the skills and that feedback loop needs to be made more dynamic, ”Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a conversation with Seneca College President David Agnew and Canadian students yesterday. "For me this is probably the most important aspect that the facility we are going to acquire is to acquire skills and learn a lot of core productivity tools that you use on a daily basis."

Yesterday, the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) also released a comprehensive report exploring the necessary support for Canada's digital workforce to acquire AI skills through various training routes. This report suggests a broad upskilling initiative to target the digital skills and strategic cross-training programs needed to meet acute needs like those in the field of AI.

The ICTC study found that 50 percent of all information technology (IT) departments of companies surveyed in North America have either fewer employees or are understood to be in ICT roles. The innovation economy is expected to create an additional 149 million new jobs globally by 2025.

Microsoft Canada says the Canada Skills Program aims to overcome this challenge and has a minimum of 2,000 additional students in diploma, degree and continuing education programs across Canada to graduate with in-demand data analytics, AI and cloud certification. Will support

Students pick up Nadella's brain about different skill-related topics

Nadella emphasized the need for soft skills, personal welfare and growth mindsets when Jessie White, a student at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, asked her about the first steps that students would take to become new educated professionals by including them in today's workforce Is required. .

"When you think about work, you are, of course, hired because of the skills you have, the core competence that you bring to the job. But to do anything meaningful, you have to work in teams And it is necessary to be able to collaborate with others to achieve things that no team member can do on their own. So, I think this collaboration as a really important skill, something that Is what everyone should stress. "Another piece I'd also say is that it's a marathon. One thing I see in people who are just entering the workforce is to think about their own well-being - which is that you need to take time to manage your time allocation so that you can learn, Be able to contribute, and then be refreshed. "

Nadella also noted the need for students to have a growth mindset as today is the third important step in successfully entering the workforce. He said that never lose the mindset of development, and focus on what you have learned today and what you can learn tomorrow.