Google Canada Commits $600,000 to Reskill Indigenous Job Seekers

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Google Canada announced a $600,000 commitment to provide free digital skills training to Indigenous job seekers across Canada. The support includes a $500,000 Google.org grant towards ComIT’s Recoding Futures IT training program, an additional $100,000 in funding to support Indspire with their education and job training programs and an allocation of Google Career Certificate scholarships for Indigenous job seekers. Today’s 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.

Research shows there’s a significant skills and education gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in Canada, particularly when it comes to connectivity, graduation rates and digital literacy. The economic impact of the pandemic has increased this divide, disproportionately impacting the employment rates of Indigenous populations. As Canada rebuilds it’s economy post COVID-19, Google Canada, ComIT and Indspire will work toward a common goal of bridging this longstanding gap, increase free access to digital skills education, and support economic growth within Indigenous communities.

“The social and economic hardships felt by many during this pandemic have brought some heavy truths to the surface and we now have an opportunity to build back a more inclusive and resilient economy,” says Sabrina Geremia, VP & Country Manager, Google Canada. “We’re proud to support ComIT and Indspire to deepen our commitment in digital skills training in high demand fields, create opportunities for Indigenous job seekers entering the tech workforce and increase Indigenous representation in our technology workforce.”

ComIT’s Recoding Futures program was created last year with the support of Google.org to provide IT training to Indigenous learners across Canada. The program runs virtually and covers topics like Design Thinking, HTML, CSS, Javascript .NET, Python, React and Node. To help complete the transition from learning to employment, ComIT offers courses on resume building, interview skills training, and other soft skill development opportunities to help with the transition from learning to employment.

"We’re excited by the renewed support from Google.org to bring free digital skills training to Indigenous students across Canada,” said Pablo Listingart, Executive Director, ComIT. “In the first year of the Recoding Futures program, we saw overwhelming interest, with over 800 applicants, double than what we expected. We look forward to expanding this program in 2022 and accommodating as many applicants as possible."

Google Canada is also committing $100,000 to Indspire to support their existing job training programs, along with an allocation of dedicated Google Career Certificate scholarships for Indigenous job seekers. The scholarships can be used towards Google Career Certificate courses, which are delivered through NPower Canada and equips learners with theoretical and practical knowledge to be successful in an entry-level technology job.

“Indspire is pleased to continue and expand this important initiative with support from Google Canada, and in partnership with NPower Canada and ComIT,” said Mike DeGagné, President & CEO of Indspire. “The first year of the program demonstrated that Indigenous youth are keen to pursue this kind of training. Not only will it benefit them on an individual level, it will also ensure that their communities as a whole will benefit from their newfound knowledge, ensuring that Indigenous communities across the country will be better able to participate in the digital skills-based economy.”

"In 2021, we enrolled 886 young adults into Google's IT Support Certificate scholarship program, allowing them to obtain the skills necessary to start their careers and participate in Canada's digital economy," said Julia Blackburn, CEO, NPower Canada. "As we look ahead to 2022 and beyond, this additional support from Google and partnership with Indspire reaffirms NPower Canada's commitment to inclusion and increased representation of Indigenous peoples in the tech workforce across Canada."

Applications are now open for ComIT’s Recoding Futures program. Interested applicants can visit ComIT.org to register. For more information on the Google Career Certificates visit g.co/certificates-canada.

To find out more on scholarships available, visit Indspire’s website.