A recent investment into the McKenna Institute at the University of New Brunswick will help advance Canada’s next wave of cybersecurity talent.
Bell Canada is investing $1 million to establish the McKenna Institute Cyber Talent Program.
This 12-week, full-time, industry-led program is designed to complement existing academic pathways by providing applied, real-world experience that reflects the rapidly evolving needs of the cybersecurity sector.
“Cybersecurity is central to Canada’s economic and national security, and we need the right talent in the right roles at the right time,” says institute founder Frank McKenna. “Bell’s investment accelerates our ability to train job-ready talent for the challenges Canada is facing today, and prepares us for those coming next.”
Bell Cyber brings national scale and deep operational cybersecurity expertise while the McKenna Institute provides ecosystem coordination, program delivery, and applied leadership.
“Canada’s connected economy and the infrastructure that supports it depend on strong cybersecurity,” posits John Watson, Group President of Bell Business Markets, “and that starts with talent.”
The partnership builds on the launch of Bell Cyber, which unifies cybersecurity solutions across Bell’s ecosystem into a one-stop, end-to-end platform for network, cloud, and endpoint security.
“By building on the momentum of Bell Cyber and investing in education, job‑ready skills, and the purposeful application of AI to enhance defence, detection and response, our new partnership with the McKenna Institute will help strengthen Canada’s cyber‑resilience and further support enterprises and public institutions facing an increasingly complex digital threat landscape,” Watson stated.
Founded in 1785, The University of New Brunswick is Canada’s oldest English-language university and today welcomes more than 10,000 students from 100 countries to its campuses.
Paul Mazerolle, President and Vice Chancellor for the University of New Brunswick, says the “exciting new partnership with Bell expands our capacity to advance cybersecurity learning with greater agility.”
“Through this initiative, our graduates will be incredibly well placed to join a highly skilled cybersecurity workforce prepared to respond to an increase of cyber threats across industry,” he stated.
Last year, Mastercard unveiled a similar collaboration with Northeastern University.
