TECHNATION is Fueling Canada’s Future Workforce: Here’s How

By: David Jolicoeur | May 3, 2022

Reaching New Milestones through Future Workforce Development

TECHNATION President and CEO Angela Mondou recently reflected on the milestones TECHNATION has reached with its Career Ready Program, and why students are the key to keeping Canada competitive in the global tech landscape. You can watch the video here:

The goal at TECHNATION is to help fuel Canada’s tech industry. Global technology may be rapidly advancing, but Canadian organizations, especially scale-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), have struggled to keep up with the demand for tech-skilled talent. In addition, as other countries advance, so does the number of cybersecurity threats. To keep up, Canada needs to tackle this shortage head-on and invest in developing tech-trained talent to join the Canadian workforce.

“That’s where TECHNATION comes in,” says Mondou. “We recognize the problem, and we know that we need more skilled tech talent – fast – if we want to get Canada back on track as a global leader in tech.”

There are approximately 250,000 tech roles in Canada that need to be filled, including hybrid roles that don’t typically come to mind when you think of technology-based jobs, like Marketing Coordinators. TECHNATION’s solution? The Career Ready Program, which leverages the future of Canada’s workforce—students—to help shape the future of our tech industry.

Since launching education, mentorship, and future workforce programs in 2017, we’ve hit some major milestones. So far, we’ve funded more than 20,000 work placements and subsidized over 1.2 million work days in the tech sector through the Career Ready wage subsidy program. Even better, over 80 per cent of employers extend their students’ original work placement, meaning we are filling permanent talent gaps as well.

Through its CareerFinder tool, TECHNATION also makes it easier for job seekers and employers to navigate their career journey in the evolving world of tech. CareerFinder uses real-time job data to provide information on the jobs and tech skills that are in-demand, keeping employers and workers up to date on the industry. With the Job Descriptions tool, employers can download and customize current job descriptions for the roles they are looking to fill based on the industry, job title, skillsets, and experience levels.  Students and job seekers can simultaneously search for their dream job while discovering exactly what skills they need to land it; and employers can be sure they’re finding the most suitable talent for their open positions.

The first step is to bridge the gap. To help fill that gap, we tap into the future of tech – an annual pool of 75,000 Canadian students on co-op placements and thousands of others seeking internships and jobs.

The top five roles Career Ready-subsidized students fill are:

• Developer
• Engineer
• Analyst
• Researcher
• Digital Marketer

Essentially all Canadian businesses, including non-profits, can access talented and motivated students for hire, regardless of their size or revenues. Funded by the Government of Canada’s Student Work Placement Program (SWPP), the Career Ready Program subsidizes between 50-70 per cent of student wages, helping employers recruit talent without the financial risk.

“We remove the risk, so employers are able to get the essential talent they need,” Mondou says. Removing risk means that more and more employers are taking a chance on student workers, and it’s paying off:

• Ninety per cent (90%) of employers report their student was ready for an entry level position.
• Almost 100 per cent (99.5%) of employers indicate their student work placements have benefitted them.

Not to mention, it’s quick and easy. Over 99.5 per cent of employer applicants are approved for the Career Ready subsidy within 10 business days.

To further support Canadian employers and student workers, TECHNATION has created LaunchPad, a virtual training platform. We know that technology is the foundation for our future—for businesses and talent alike—and we’re ready to help businesses train, cultivate, and lead the way to an elevated tech industry.

With the momentum from the past 5+ years, our focus moving forward is to create stronger relationships with government, industry, and educators, while simultaneously prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Creating a seat at the table for more diverse talent will lead to a stronger tech industry for Canada. In fact, removing the barriers that diverse businesses, employers, and students face, is essential. We want to ensure our future is led by workers with diverse perspectives, experiences, and ways of thinking.

We’re in this together. Let’s make sure everyone has an opportunity to be a part of Canada’s TECH nation.