A Calgary non-profit is offering an innovative IT training course for people looking for an affordable way to break into the city’s growing tech sector.
Momentum Calgary, a charity that offers programs and services to help people build their small businesses and careers, is offering a new payment model for students of its IT Support Specialist Training Program.
The “Income Share Agreement” basically allows them to “learn now, pay later”.
“We’re the first non-profit in Canada to offer the program,” Momentum executive director Jeff Loomis told Global News.
Loomis said eligible students can pay as little as $500 up front when enrolling in the program. They’re then responsible for the rest of the tuition payment — roughly $6,350 — only once they get a job.
“The participant doesn’t pay back the majority of the tuition until after they’re employed,” Loomis pointed out. “They’re getting a job and then they’re paying the majority of tuition to Momentum — after the fact.”
The graduates also have two years to pay back the outstanding amount, and there is no interest charged on top of that. Momentum officials said as a non-profit charitable organization, they’re not interested in “creating” debt.
“There’s no debt involved in the program,” Loomis pointed out.
That was a big sell for 42-year-old Craig Stewart. He arrived in Canada 18 years ago from Jamaica and jumped from job to job, trying to find the best fit.
“I just kept floating around basically,” he said.
Stewart, who had been an IT specialist back home, wanted to get back into tech but said it just never seemed to pan out.
“I was sidetracked a little bit by life,” he said. “I started to have a family and I had to do what I had to do to put food on the table.”
But after moving to Alberta, and with the encouragement of his wife and four kids, Stewart decided to go to Momentum and take the IT course. He said the program’s income share model — made it easy.
“It was literally take the course now – pay later kind of thing. And that’s what I was looking for as I was unemployed.”
Putting classroom experience to work
Students of the 20-week long Momentum program also get on-hand, paid experience, at various tech companies. One of their partners is Gam Tech, a small, local business IT services company.
It has taken on quite a few of Momentum’s students and told Global News these practicums have been very beneficial.
“It gives them a taste on what the IT industry is,” Gam Tech founder Adrian Ghira said.
But Ghira added it’s not only students who gain from the onsite work experience, his company does as well.
“In our industry it’s kind of tough,” he said. “A lot of people come in and they say they know what stuff to do, but it’s really hard to judge them by an interview. This allows us to really have the person here for eight weeks and allows us to really know the person.”
Program success
Gam Tech has actually hired some of Momentum’s recent grads. And Loomis said the placement rate for the last course, late last year, was very successful.
“Nine of the 12 grads are already working in the tech space.”
That includes Stewart, who had not one — but two — job offers.
“I never gave up. I knew I was going to pull through – it was just a matter of time.”
Momentum is running the course again twice in 2024, including next month. Officials said there are still spaces available that they would love to fill.
The non-profit, in the business of making life better for low-income people, also said none of it would have been possible without the help of their community partners, generous Calgary philanthropists and government, all of whom contribute to the program’s funding.
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