A program for information technology training in Northern Ontario is starting to move ahead.
The Community Access Network for Information Literacy (CANFIL) program recently received more than $256,000 in funds from Human Resource Development Canada (HRDC) to begin bringing information technology training to Northern Ontario.
NEOnet in Timmins is heading up the program.
“The project entails creating a training network through the CAP (Community Adjustment Program) sites,” says Stéphane Gallant, information and communications technology project manager with NEOnet. “We want to provide online computer and Internet training to the CAP site administrators and staff initially.”
Gallant says the program will, in time, be extended to the public so that anyone at home can go online to obtain the training modules.
Gallant says CAP sites, which were set up by the federal government several years ago and are found throughout Northern Ontario communities, are often the first point of contact for many people looking to gain computer skills for new jobs or career advancement. The total cost for the project is over $600,000. Gallant says the program received approval from HRDC’s office of learning technologies to move forward once it received the funding.
Funding for the project is coming from FedNor, HRDC and some private sector sources. There are also in-kind
services being offered by the CAP sites.
The first stages include hiring a project co-ordinator and to begin developing the curriculum for the program, which will be accessed by a Web site. There will also be training to CAP site administrators.
The effort begins in the next few weeks with training of the CAP co-ordinators beginning in December, Gallant says.
