(Windsor, Ontario) - Partnership provides students with skills needed to remain competitive in the workforce of the future, while creating a robust talent pipeline for regional employers.
Today, Cisco was proud to recognize Windsor-based St. Clair College as the company’s number one Cisco Networking Academy partner in all North America, with 1,680 students enrolled in 2018 alone. The College’s computer networking program also continues to have one of the highest rates of female enrolment of Cisco-certified programs in Canada. President of Cisco Canada, Rola Dagher, visited the College’s students and faculty to mark the occasion and congratulate the school’s team on its ongoing success in supporting growth and diversity of the local and national tech sectors.
Cisco’s Networking Academy is a global program that helps deliver technology education, empowering students to change people’s lives, elevate their careers, and transform communities. First launched in Canada in 1998, the program has been helping to foster the technical and entrepreneurial skills that people, educators, and companies need to change the world for the better. In 2018 alone, 26,885 students were enrolled at 215 academies across Canada.
"Over the years, Cisco has been making strong investments in projects and programs that help accelerate Canada’s digitization and shape a modern economy that is skilled, innovative, creative, inclusive and capable of adapting quickly as new opportunities emerge," said Rola Dagher, President of Cisco Canada. "We are proud of the partnership we’ve developed with St. Clair College to empower young Canadians with technology, and we are excited to build on the local success here in the years to come."
"Our partnership with Cisco has always been a key contributor to the quality of our Computer Networking programs. And it is that atmosphere of academic and professional quality that has led to this achievement in quantity," said St. Clair President Patti France. "It is the combination of our exceptional faculty, our state-of-the-art technology and Cisco accreditation which has attracted so many students to the College to pursue fulfilling careers in I.T. St. Clair thanks Cisco for this recognition – and also wishes to emphasize that it is our 14-year-long partnership with the company that has made this enrolment increase possible."
The College’s commitment to support women pursuing careers in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields continues to put the school on the map. "We are finding more and more women who see great futures in the technology and trades sectors," says France. "Coupled with our support of a wide variety of technology and trades initiatives, the College sees bright futures for both women and men locally, and across the country."
Cisco Networking Academy Program Manager, Philippe Landry, also sees great potential in this sector. "For 20 years, Cisco Networking Academy has been committed to ITC education in Canada and we are proud to support St. Clair College’s mission in providing 21st-century skills to its students. As we continue to see a shortage of skilled workers in the ITC sector, the industry will rely on education partners like St. Clair, now more than ever, to help build our digital economy."
With the help of the Cisco network academy, St. Clair College has become a leader in North America in educating IT professionals, says Ruth Susannah, Program Coordinator in the Computer Networking programs. "We are becoming a technology hub with Windsor and Detroit partnering on many projects. Most recently the College has been invited to be part of a historic group developing a plan for seamlessly integrated mobility between Michigan and Ontario," says Susannah. "The tech sector is also beginning to grow with new companies moving into the city. We have many of our grads working in critical IT roles in various industries across both sides of the border. We could not have accomplished all of this without industry partners like Cisco who have donated equipment to our program and provided valuable industry-based curriculum for our students."
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