The International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) has recently announced that it would be expanding its ‘Women in Tech’ training program to Alberta, Canada.

Indeed, this initiative aims to train young women to become full-stack developers in Toronto and will now be available in Calgary and Edmonton. This program is made for young women living in poverty or at risk of doing so due to a lack of employable skills and allows them to be trained in tech for free.

To do so, IDRF receives an annual grant from The United Way of Greater Toronto under its Inclusive Employment initiative. The initiative was able to train 100 young women in Toronto in computer coding while another 22 have graduated from a web development bootcamp.

As the tech industry experiences a great gender gap, it is vital that women, as well as immigrant communities, are given the opportunity to grow in the sector and learn the right skills to succeed. Hence, the “Women in Tech: Alberta” program will be launched in the spring.