Province to fund 400 new technology training spots

The Alberta government is funding more than 400 new post-secondary seats, including a new master’s program in software engineering at the University of Calgary, in an effort to boost the province’s growing tech sector.

Edmonton will receive 169 of the new tech-related seats and Lethbridge will receive 21 seats.

The additional seats are part of the government’s five-year, $50 million investment in growing Alberta’s tech sector. The goal is to add at least 3,000 tech-related seats to post-secondary institutions across the province by 2023.

Most of the new seats announced for September are being added to existing tech-related postsecondary programs that offer certificates, diplomas or degrees, and are one to two years in duration. The chosen programs have already demonstrated high student and labour market demand, said a government news release.

In Calgary, the U of C will receive funding for 40 student spaces in a new master’s degree in software engineering at the Schulich School of Engineering. According to the provincial ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Alberta is projecting a labour shortage of computer and information systems professionals by 2025, as well as a shortage of software designers, programmers and developers.

SAIT will receive funding for 98 seats in its Information Technology diploma program, and 48 seats in its Object Oriented Software Development certificate program.

Bow Valley College will receive 30 new seats for its Software Development diploma program.