Newsletter
IT has been a key sector for Summerside for several years now. It unofficially began in the mid-2000s when our Holman Centre was repackaged to be a centre of IT excellence. Since then, Summerside has become home to several IT firms participating in areas such as medical imaging, managed services, business process outsourcing, fintech, and video game development. Together, they employ more than 300 people.
Summerside naturally lends itself to the IT industry. These types of businesses were always more portable than most since you only need the proper infrastructure (i.e. internet) and your customers can be pretty much anywhere. Having such jobs here allow employees to live and raise their families with the unbeatable lifestyle that Summerside offers.
Of course, changes to our work lives brought on by COVID-19 have amplified the portability of IT businesses. Working from home or working remotely is even more common now. This, combined with our own efforts to constantly tout Summerside as a sound business choice for IT, has gotten the attention of several established IT businesses.
These businesses are all interested in expanding their presence to Summerside. They are looking for skilled individuals that will work remotely from Summerside to begin with. Once established with a dedicated base of employees, permanent office space will then be considered. It’s rare for such an abundance of opportunities to come our way. If you are a skilled IT developer or business professional, there could be a perfect opportunity for you.
Summerside naturally lends itself to the IT industry. These types of businesses were always more portable than most since you only need the proper infrastructure (i.e. internet) and your customers can be pretty much anywhere. Having such jobs here allow employees to live and raise their families with the unbeatable lifestyle that Summerside offers.
Of course, changes to our work lives brought on by COVID-19 have amplified the portability of IT businesses. Working from home or working remotely is even more common now. This, combined with our own efforts to constantly tout Summerside as a sound business choice for IT, has gotten the attention of several established IT businesses.
These businesses are all interested in expanding their presence to Summerside. They are looking for skilled individuals that will work remotely from Summerside to begin with. Once established with a dedicated base of employees, permanent office space will then be considered. It’s rare for such an abundance of opportunities to come our way. If you are a skilled IT developer or business professional, there could be a perfect opportunity for you.
Here are the businesses interested in finding talent in Summerside:
Founded in 2017, BluWave-ai has a meaningful mission: to deliver innovative artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to accelerate the transformation to renewable energy worldwide. They apply AI to increase the use of clean energy in smart grids and microgrids with distributed energy resources, demand response, and transactive business models.
At BluWave-ai, you'll do innovative engineering in the best-emerging technologies. Whether on a technical team or driving one of the other functions within the company, you'll work with a diverse team of creative individuals all inspired by the company's mission.
BluWave-ai has been a partner with Summerside for several years already as part of our Living Lab program. Because of our many smart and green energy initiatives, there was a natural pairing between us and them. By having access to our energy generation and usage data from our Electric Utility, they were able to improve their energy scheduling algorithms. This allowed them to improve their product offering to other utilities and minimized our Electric Utility’s cost with energy purchasing errors.
As our relationship continues to mature with BluWave-ai, they are now interested in finding staff to work remotely from Summerside. They wish to fill these positions:
• Backend Cloud Software Developers
• Backend Cloud Software Developers (New Graduate)
• Data Engineering Platform Developer
• Senior Frontend WebApp Developer
Founded in 1976, CGI employs 76,000 people at 400 locations in several countries, making them among the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world.
Their goal is to build trusted relationships through client proximity, providing industry and technology expertise and end-to-end services to help you meet the needs of your customers and citizens. With more than four decades of sustained growth, their financial strength is a testament to the trust of their clients, the expertise and dedication of consultants, and the sound principles by which they operate.
In the Maritimes, they have offices in Fredericton NB, Moncton NB, Halifax NS, and Stratford PE. CGI’s Stratford office began in 2005 and typically employs 80-100 people. Today, they are interested in expanding their presence in PEI to include a Summerside office. This represents a major influx of about 100 new jobs and there are opportunities for fresh grads as well as those with 1-2 years’ experience (junior), those with 3-7 years’ experience (intermediate), and those with 7+ years’ experience (senior). They are seeking people to fill these roles:
Their goal is to build trusted relationships through client proximity, providing industry and technology expertise and end-to-end services to help you meet the needs of your customers and citizens. With more than four decades of sustained growth, their financial strength is a testament to the trust of their clients, the expertise and dedication of consultants, and the sound principles by which they operate.
In the Maritimes, they have offices in Fredericton NB, Moncton NB, Halifax NS, and Stratford PE. CGI’s Stratford office began in 2005 and typically employs 80-100 people. Today, they are interested in expanding their presence in PEI to include a Summerside office. This represents a major influx of about 100 new jobs and there are opportunities for fresh grads as well as those with 1-2 years’ experience (junior), those with 3-7 years’ experience (intermediate), and those with 7+ years’ experience (senior). They are seeking people to fill these roles:
• NET Developers
• Java Developers
• Quality Engineers
• Project Managers
• Scrum Masters
• Cloud Engineers
• Business Analysts
• Data Analysts
• Business Intelligence
• Directors
• Architects for IT (solution or functional)
• Those with Guidewire or Salesforce Experience
Founded in 2013, Joist provides a mobile and web application for small business contractors to estimate, invoice, record and process payments, and manage projects from anywhere. From humble beginnings, they now help over 1 million contractors across North America, the UK, and Australia, making them the largest trades platform in the world! Their mission is simple: make contractors heroes.
The founders created Joist after learning lessons from their own service-based company, which they scaled across Eastern Canada. Soon, they were meeting other contractors who were experiencing similar problems. Joist makes it effortless for contractors to win jobs, get time back in their day, and better serve their customers.
This is your chance to work on a mobile product that people actually use and LOVE. Joist is looking to fill these roles:
The founders created Joist after learning lessons from their own service-based company, which they scaled across Eastern Canada. Soon, they were meeting other contractors who were experiencing similar problems. Joist makes it effortless for contractors to win jobs, get time back in their day, and better serve their customers.
This is your chance to work on a mobile product that people actually use and LOVE. Joist is looking to fill these roles:
• Platform Engineer
• Senior Full Stack Engineer
• Senior iOS Engineer
Do You Have the Skills For Any of These Positions? Work in Summerside!
No matter what your situation, we’d like to hear from you. Whether you’re living here now, used to live here, never lived here, or have a family member or friend that you think could be a good fit, reach out! We can help connect you to the people in charge and get a dialogue started. These jobs are well worth your time to investigate or apply to.
For job descriptions or more details, contact Neil at neil@summerside.ca to get things rolling. We look forward to hearing from you!
Needle in a Haystack: Finding the Right People
The job opportunities in the above article can be huge for Summerside’s IT sector. In the best-case scenario, more than 100 people could be coming here to fulfill those labour needs. However, those people must be first be reached.
Finding labour is always challenging. In fact, for the two BR+E surveys that we conducted (Nov. 2018 and Feb. 2020), “Finding Skilled Labour” was the #1 concern both times out of nearly 20 categories. It’s not just us either – labour concerns typically top surveys like this around the country. Although it can be like finding a needle in a haystack, labour attraction is very important. So, how do we approach it?
Besides communication channels, like social media, our website, our contact networks, and this newsletter, we are also a Community Partner of a specialized labour tool called Magnet.
Finding labour is always challenging. In fact, for the two BR+E surveys that we conducted (Nov. 2018 and Feb. 2020), “Finding Skilled Labour” was the #1 concern both times out of nearly 20 categories. It’s not just us either – labour concerns typically top surveys like this around the country. Although it can be like finding a needle in a haystack, labour attraction is very important. So, how do we approach it?
Besides communication channels, like social media, our website, our contact networks, and this newsletter, we are also a Community Partner of a specialized labour tool called Magnet.
For Job Seekers:
Start by creating a profile that captures your skills, experience, education, and career preferences. When employers post jobs that match your profile and preferences, you’ll be invited to apply. That means you’ll only receive notifications for jobs that are relevant to your skills and goals.
–––– How it Works ––––
1. Visit the website to create your FREE Magnet account.
2. Check your email and confirm.
3. Complete your job seeker profile to get matched to jobs.
Create your account today to view and apply for the BluWave-ai, CGI Inc., and JOIST jobs mentioned above. Magnet keeps your profile private, meaning employers only see your information when you choose to share it.
For Employers and Recruiters:
When you post a job through Magnet, your job posting is sent to candidates who match your required education, experience, skills, and certifications. That means your posting goes directly to job seekers who are qualified.
–––– How it Works ––––
1. Visit the website and create your FREE account.
2. Log in to Magnet to begin posting jobs.
3. Use Magnet’s matching criteria to target your posting to the most qualified candidates among the network’s 1,000,000 job seekers.
Magnet has a built-in Applicant Tracking System (ATS) so that you can easily track your job postings and those who applied. Also, Magnet’s Campus Connect feature gives the platform incredible use. With just one check box, you can instantly post to nearly 100 post-secondary job boards across the country in addition to all the other registered job seekers.
As a bonus, Magnet’s partnerships with Export Development Canada, Business Development Bank of Canada, Labour Market Information Council (LMIC) and the Future Skills Centre helps them bring you targeted messages from a range of trusted sources on one platform.
Magnet was created at Ryerson University in 2014. It began when someone recognized the unemployment and underemployment of skilled workers in Ontario, particularly recent grads. Since then, it has grown to be a nationwide platform. Magnet works closely with 5 stakeholder groups, including Education, Government, Labour, Not-for-Profit, and Industry, with the intent to establish lasting relationships between these and job seekers. Currently, Magnet boasts:
— 1,000,000 job seekers (100,000 in Oct. 2017)
— 27,000 employers (10,000 in Oct. 2017)
— 100 University and College Partners (30 in Oct. 2017)
— 450 Community Partners (235 in Oct. 2017)
Magnet’s been growing quickly and continues to grow its membership and networks all the time.
If Magnet could be of use to you, please visit the website and create your account! Should you have questions, you can reach out to Neil at neil@summerside.ca.
.jpeg)
Like Never Before: Immigrant Milestones and Business Space
It’s pretty incredible to compare Summerside to itself a mere 2 years ago. There are many positive indicators and projects that we covered in our 2020 Annual Report, including new businesses, building permit values, the Summerside Sunbank, and the Summerside Business Commons, among others. The focus of this article will be on newcomers to Summerside and what it’s meant for our business space inventories.
The past few years have been unprecedented in terms of immigrant landings. Traditionally, Summerside would see around 2% of all PEI landings, which includes both labour and entrepreneurship streams. Lately, that proportion has risen drastically.
The past few years have been unprecedented in terms of immigrant landings. Traditionally, Summerside would see around 2% of all PEI landings, which includes both labour and entrepreneurship streams. Lately, that proportion has risen drastically.
Clearly, this increase is in part due to the Community Endorsement Program, which encouraged newcomer entrepreneurs to seek locations outside of PEI’s Capital Region. Summerside was a natural choice for many of these people and the first business to open from these investors was in the Summer of 2019, which coincided with a significant jump in Summerside landings.
Businesses from this immigration stream have been opening steadily since with a current total of 70. Such a claim would have been met with skepticism back in 2019, but here we are with dozens of new businesses eager to make an impact.
Speaking of space, taken together, these new businesses occupy 58,000 sq ft of business space (retail, office, industrial) and employ 130 people. Buildings and units that sat empty for several years are now bustling with activity.
As a result of our diminishing vacancy rates, there is an opportunity for property owners to repurpose or create space. Now is the perfect time to act and cash in since over 100 more businesses are expected over the next three years. If you’d like to learn more, contact Neil at neil@summerside.ca.
Summerside in Numbers
If interested in learning more about investment opportunities, economic development support or opportunities for growth, please call our Economic Development Professionals.
We would love to chat.
Alternatively, you can email us at mike@summerside.ca.
It could be the most profitable email you have ever sent.
Michael Thususka
Director of Economic Development City of Summerside
275 Fitzroy Street, Summerside PE C1N 1H9
M: 902.432.0103, E: mike@summerside.ca
LET’S BUILD THE FUTURE TOGETHER!