Welcome to this week’s Sunday Briefing. In this issue, learn about the state of food security on Vancouver Island; discover the climate threshold that impacts ocean deoxygenation; and check out your chance to get paid $10,000 to travel the world for a month, thanks to Victoria company Shift.

Now on to today’s briefing. It’s 690 words: a three-minute read.

-Emily, [email protected]

By the way, if you're not already subscribed, you can fix that here.

Government of BC invests $4M into tech talent accelerator

This week, the Government of British Columbia announced its expansion of the Canadian Tech Talent Accelerator (CTTA) program to prepare more than 1,800 jobseekers across the province for careers in the tech sector. The provincial government will renew its investment of $4 million into the project, which was created in partnership with NPower Canada, Microsoft Canada, CIBC, and Digital.

This second phase of the CTTA initiative will introduce new upskilling and opportunities in cybersecurity and  generative AI, to better prepare job seekers for the future of work. Doing so, the partners say, will support B.C.’s economy by equipping the workforce with digital skills necessary for innovation and economic growth.

The CTTA project has a focus on increasing the number of underrepresented and marginalized communities in B.C.’s growing tech sector. Of the more than 2,200 participants currently served by the program, 77 percent of participants are Black, Indigenous, or People of Colour; 65 percent are newcomers to Canada; 48 percent are women; and eight percent identify as LGBTQ2S+. The new investment aims to help similar groups gain access to local tech jobs.

Representatives from Digital, Microsoft Canada, CIBC, and NPower Canada — along with employer and community partners and NPower Canada alumni — gathered at Microsoft’s office in Vancouver for the announcement, where Brenda Bailey, Minister of Jobs, Economic  Development and Innovation, revealed the investment.

“B.C.’s continued support for the CTTA program means even more under-represented youth and adults in our province can develop the needed knowledge and skills to get into well-paying tech related  jobs,” she said. “The CTTA program contributes to making the province’s workforce more inclusive, highly skilled and competitive, and helps build British Columbia’s clean and innovative economy of the future.” 

The speakers noted that the commitment to diversity and inclusion within the CTTA aligns closely with the core missions and values of all partners. The announcement also fits within the B.C. government’s StrongerBC economic plan, which prioritizes inclusive growth to build a stronger province.

📰 More Victoria innovation news

🥧 Bye-bye Miss American Pie: In this episode of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce’s podcast, Linda Geggie and Laura Gair from the Capital Region Food and Agricultural Initiative Roundtable discussed the opportunities and challenges of food security on Vancouver Island.

✈️ On the road again: Shift, the Victoria-based browser, announced a unique new role: chief nomad officer. The company will pay $10,000 for someone to travel the world for a month, using Shift to plan their adventure.

🌊 Sugar, we’re goin’ down: Kohen Bauer, director of science at Ocean Networks Canada, led research on the climate-warming threshold before we reach widespread and continuing ocean deoxygenation.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Executive Director of Data Management & Stewardship and Chief Data Steward at BC Public Service

• Senior Software Development Engineer - Media Cloud at Workday

• Intermediate Systems Administrator at Rebalance

Hiring in Victoria? Reply to this email and let us know!

📅 Upcoming events

September 26 | Tech Nachos

​Victoria Tech Nachos is a covert group at the intersection of nachos and technology. It’s a no-speaker, social-only, no-sponsor, nacho-friendly event.

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

🙋 I need a…

We at Victoria Tech Journal know you, our community, pretty well. Are you searching for someone in your field to have coffee with, a hiring hookup, a lead on local investors, or suggestion for a great Victoria tech tool? Whatever you’re hunting for, let us know. We’ll post it in this section and make it happen.

Email your requests to [email protected].

Have something or someone we should know about?

Reply or email [email protected] so we can work together to spotlight the lesser-known stories of Victoria's tech ecosystem.