Toronto, ON - October 20, 2020 - Palette Skills Inc and the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences are proud to announce a new partnership that will deliver an intensive training program in cybersecurity. The program, which will run online starting November 16, 2020, will serve two key purposes: it will provide industry-readying skills to Canadian residents holding advanced degrees in quantitative fields (mathematics, physics, statistics, computer science, etc.), and will connect Canadian employers in need of cybersecurity talent with job-ready individuals.

As many businesses increase their digital activity, cybersecurity is a rapidly-growing field; worldwide, there are over 4 million job openings for cybersecurity experts. Canada’s job market follows the same trend, and yet companies seeking cybersecurity talent are struggling to find job-ready candidates. The Accelerated Cybersecurity Training Program seeks to close this gap by arming advanced degree holders, who are often underemployed in their fields, with cybersecurity-specific skills, industry experience, and a network of employers actively recruiting cybersecurity talent.

By working closely with industry partners, the program will ensure that participants complete their training with the skills, mindsets, and tools they need to perform much-needed cybersecurity functions in industry. "Cybersecurity is one of the fastest growing parts of Canada's innovation economy. Whether it's big banks or Canadian companies producing world-class cybersecurity defences to respond to cyberthreats - we have the potential to be world-leaders in this space. Yet time and again, our most innovative companies experience significant challenges in finding the talent they need to scale and grow," said Palette CEO Dr. Arvind Gupta. "The new partnership between Palette and the Fields Institute marks an important step forward in addressing this challenge by creating a system for industry to tap into a growing talent pool with the quantitative foundations and skills that the cyber industry needs to thrive."

The program will increase the intersection between quantitative research fields and industry applications by producing highly-skilled, job-ready candidates. Fields Institute Director, Professor V. Kumar Murty, said, “The Fields Institute is delighted to partner with Palette to help mathematical sciences graduates acquire the cybersecurity skills that will lead to quality jobs and fill an important need in Canadian industry.”

The Accelerated Cybersecurity Training Program is accepting applications until November 9, 2020. This project is funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario (FedDev).

Palette is a national talent platform funded in part by the Government of Canada's Sectoral Initiatives Program. Its mission is to meet the needs of Canada’s most innovative companies by rapidly upskilling workers. The Fields Institute is a centre for research and training in the mathematical sciences - a place where mathematicians from Canada and abroad, from academia and industry, can come together to expand pure and applied knowledge, and formulate and solve problems of mutual interest. 

For questions about the program, please contact Sonam Devgan Kaul, Program Manager, Fields Institute, at

For media requests, please contact Miriam Schoeman, Fields Institute, at