University College of the North Awarded $970K to Train Front Line IT Technicians

Press Release

(The Pas, MB) – University College of the North (UCN) is one of 30 Future Skills Centre (FSC) funded projects to provide essential solutions to support Canadians transitioning to new jobs or industries.

FSC recently announced its $37 million investment for innovative and responsive solutions to Canada’s evolving labour market needs. The University College of the North will create a two-year network computer technology program geared to providing entry-level skills but coupled with social supports, flexible terms of study that better match family and community needs, and work-integrated-learning with industry partners.

The aim is to overcome numerous barriers that block northerners from fully participating in the ICT industries of Manitoba (especially as these industries seeks to expand into northern Manitoba) and thereby address the issue, common to many northern communities, of “jobs without people and people without jobs”.

“The info and communications technology sector is largely unknown and unseen to many northerners,” said Rob Penner, UCN Associate VP of Community & Industry Solutions, “The sector is experiencing growth, more so in the pandemic, and requires a skilled workforce in Manitoba in general and northern Manitoba in particular. We want to give northerners a chance to gain these sorts of skills and enter this sector.”

The FSC projects are the result of consultations with stakeholders across Canada’s skills ecosystem and the review of hundreds of submissions to a call for proposals last year. They encompass all regions of the country and a variety of sectors with a strong focus on the needs of disadvantaged and underrepresented groups.

“The current crisis is creating a great deal of uncertainty for Canadian households and sectors. An economic recovery that works for all Canadians will require that we start to build a skills development ecosystem that is more responsive to the changing realities of workers and employers,” says FSC Executive Director Pedro Barata. “These partnerships will help us map out lasting solutions that will help Canadians across the country recover now and thrive in the years to come.”

The projects’ four major themes align with FSC’s mandate to identify, assess, and share innovative approaches to training and upskilling workers to build resilience and adaptability.

FSC’s focus on agile, innovative, and responsive solutions to labour market changes are urgently needed to address the devastating economic and social fallout from COVID-19. This global pandemic, as well as rapid advancements in technology, have dramatically affected the jobs and workplaces of millions of Canadians.

University College of the North provides learning opportunities to northern communities while respecting diverse Indigenous and northern values.

UCN.ca

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CONTACT: Monte Koshel

UCN Director of Communications

mkoshel@ucn.ca / 204.627.8244

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