Microsoft, Seneca and RBC to offer free Microsoft Azure Fundamentals workshops

Seneca College has teamed up with Microsoft Canada and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to create opportunities for Canadian students, graduates and professionals seeking to acquire in-demand digital skills through free Microsoft Azure Fundamentals workshops. 

The workshops will comprise two-day, eight-hour short courses that Microsoft Canada says will enable participants to learn critical skills for post-pandemic economic recovery including data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing certifications. Up to 6,000 students are expected to participate. 

“Whether it’s retraining or starting fresh, it’s clear that the skills needed to excel in today’s workplace are changing. We have a responsibility to help young people prepare for that change,” said Mark Beckles, senior director, youth strategy & innovation, RBC, in a press release. “Through our support of this collaboration, we know more young people will be enabled to identify, articulate, and build the skills they need to succeed.”

This initiative is an extension of Microsoft’s Canada Skills Program announced this past September, and a part of RBC Future Launch, RBC’s $500 million commitment aimed at equipping Canadian youth with the skills required for the jobs of tomorrow. 

“The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation across virtually every industry resulting in greater demand for skills in cloud, data and AI,” said Kevin Peesker, president, Microsoft Canada. “To meet the needs of Canada’s growing digital economy and give Canadians the skills they need to take advantage of job market opportunities, industry and academia must work together to bridge the gap and help unlock innovation.”

Statistics Canada surveyed 12,000 Canadian businesses between April 3 and 24 on how COVID-19 impacted them and found that nearly one in five of these businesses laid off more than 80 per cent of staff, causing many Canadians to acquire new digital skills with businesses reskilling their workforce and onboarding more technically savvy employees.

Many industries have been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic, and the move to remote work and accelerated digital transformation has deepened the disconnect around skills above all. Equipping workers with in-demand skills and reskilling them has become imperative for businesses to survive. 

By offering the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals workshop for free, Seneca, Microsoft and RBC state they’re ensuring these foundational skills are made available without barrier, helping to develop a Canadian workforce with a strong understanding of cloud computing that is used in most business environments. 

The workshops start this month and run through the end of June. Interested participants can register for the workshops now on Seneca’s website.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Pragya Sehgal
Pragya Sehgal
Born and raised in the capital city of India - Delhi - bounded by the river Yamuna on the west, Pragya has climbed the Himalayas, and survived medical professional stream in high school without becoming a patient or a doctor. Pragya now makes her home in Canada with her husband - a digital/online marketing fanatic who also loves to prepare beautiful, healthy and delicious meals for her. When she isn’t working or writing around tech, she’s probably watching art films on Netflix, or wondering whether she should cut her hair short or not. Can be contacted at [email protected] or 647.695.3494.

Featured Story

How the CTO can Maintain Cloud Momentum Across the Enterprise

Embracing cloud is easy for some individuals. But embedding widespread cloud adoption at the enterprise level is...

Related Tech News

Get ITBusiness Delivered

Our experienced team of journalists brings you engaging content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives delivered directly to your inbox.

Featured Tech Jobs