Alberta government bill proposes $43M to create 3,000 tech training spaces over 5 years
CBC News | Posted: March 14, 2018 9:41 PM | Last Updated: March 14, 2018
Bill 2 also creates new digital media tax credit aimed at convincing firms to set up in Alberta
The Alberta government is proposing a new bill that would create 3,000 post-secondary spaces over five years to train people to work in the technology sector.
The program will dedicate $43 million to training programs and another $7 million to scholarships. Some scholarship funding will be aimed at increasing the number of women in the tech sector.
The government proposes to create 200 new spaces in 2018-19, 550 in 2019-20 and 740 in each of the remaining three years.
Post-secondary institutions would have to submit proposals in order to receive the new funding.
The government is also proposing a new council to advise the government on what programs would help the most.
Bill 2 also proposes a new interactive digital media tax credit to encourage new companies to start up in Alberta, or move here from other jurisdictions.
The government also wants to extend two existing programs — the Alberta Investment Tax Credit and Capital Investment Tax Credit.
Alberta is expected to face a shortage of computer and information technology professionals by 2025 and a shortage of software designers, programmers and developers.