Page 36 - InvestAlberta-EDA-2025

and Northwestern Polytechnic are educating the
workforce of the future in fields like health care, machine
learning and alternative energy technology.
“We really prioritize technical skills at SAIT,
whether it’s accounting, welding or whatever
you’re studying, the technical skills are core to the
programming,” says Janet Segato, executive dean
at SAIT. “More and more employers are looking for
graduates that not only know how to do the skill, but
have communication skills — that can work with
people from all over the world, who have the ability to
problem solve and be creative.
“The world of work is changing faster than it’s
ever changed before. And so it’s important to have
that ability to be creative, to look at problems and
think what’s a new way to approach this? What’s a
technology that we might be able to consider using in
this situation? We refer to them as human skills, but it
really does bring a different focus to the classroom.”
And rather than speculate about where the market
is headed — or be stuck playing catchup — Segato
and the team at SAIT make sure to engage in constant
dialogues with industry representatives about their
present and future labour force needs. It’s a dialogue
that has resulted in SAIT expanding its programming
to areas such as cybersecurity and financial technology
— the latter being the first ever “FinTech” business
major in all of Canada — while still offering the skilled
trades and professions that anchor industries across
the marketplace.
“We start out with an initial consultation where
we ask a lot of questions about the [new] program,
and then we go back to those same industry
partners anywhere from six to nine months later
to help us validate where they see the learning
outcomes, the skills, technical knowledge and
“MORE AND MORE EMPLOYERS ARE LOOKING FOR
GRADUATES THAT NOT ONLY KNOW HOW TO DO THE SKILL,
BUT HAVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS — THAT CAN WORK
WITH PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, THAT HAVE
THE ABILITY TO PROBLEM SOLVE AND BE CREATIVE.”
— JEAN SEGATO, EXECUTIVE DEAN, SOUTHERN ALBERTA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
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