BMO Financial Group: Building a cloud talent pool in Indigenous communities

In 2021 BMO Financial Group selected AWS as its strategic cloud provider. As evidenced by its more than 200 years in operation, BMO has a talent for transforming with changing times and technology. And its ambitious digital and cloud transformation plan shows that it does not intend to stop now. Still, as the eighth largest bank in North America with 12 million customers and $950 billion in assets, a change on this scale is no small undertaking. Moving operations to the cloud doesn’t just represent an entirely new way of thinking about data services and how to provide them, but an entirely new way of thinking about its employees and their skill sets.

Increasing the cloud talent in its current employee pool was the first step. The company worked with AWS Skills Guild to implement a robust set of internal training programs to quickly increase cloud fluency and interest among their existing employees. In addition, the company wanted to create an organic pipeline for fresh talent from outside the company, one that would encourage both technical and non-technical people to set their sights on cloud.

BMO found the answer in AWS’s re/Start program, a cohort-based workforce development training program that helps individuals, regardless of their technological or professional background, build cloud computing skills and connects participants with employment opportunities at local employers.

“These specialized skill sets are difficult to find in the quantities we need,” says Victor Tung, Chief Information and Operations Officer for BMO Capital Markets. “My contacts at AWS told me about AWS re/Start, and I loved the concept. It sounded like just what we needed as the next phase in our comprehensive training evolution.”

By partnering with PLATO, Canada’s only Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-staffed technology services and training firm, BMO focused its efforts on outreach to Indigenous communities in Canada and combined the AWS re/Start program with potential internship opportunities for graduates. “It integrates a diversity, equity, and inclusion program with education, training, and hands-on experience with cloud.” says Tung. “It all just clicked together.”

After a recruitment program at universities and Indigenous communities across Canada, 22 students were enrolled, and, in January of 2022, began a 12-week cloud computing “bootcamp” (provided by AWS re/Start). The training program was followed by a 6-month internship at BMO to learn and apply those skills on the job, with a possibility of full-time employment afterwards.

“This was a wonderful way to expand our footprint,” Tung says. “In the past we relied on finding employees who are anchored around Toronto, and that limited our reach into Indigenous communities.” Like AWS itself, AWS re/Start is administered remotely, in the cloud, so students could be anywhere with an internet connection and a computer.

Kennedy Littlewolfe was working at a department store in Saskatchewan when she heard about AWS re/Start from a friend. Coming out of high school she wanted to study biology, chemistry or computers. “I applied to a Bachelor of Science program but didn’t have the math I needed to get in,” she says. “They placed me in a Bachelor of Arts program, but it wasn’t a good fit for me.” A year into college she dropped out and spent the next five years working in retail.

AWS re/Start turned out to be just the thing for someone with high interest, but low experience. “I wasn’t coming from a technology background, but the material was very well paced and easy to follow,” Littlewolfe says. “It was intense at the beginning because I hadn’t had any other exposure to cloud computing or programming, but the hands-on nature of the program showed me that I could see myself doing this as a career.”

Douglas Sinclair was a music teacher and studio manager for 18 years before enrolling at the University of Toronto to study for a bachelor’s degree in digital design and technical writing. After graduating with honors, he applied for a UX design position at BMO. When the recruiter mentioned the AWS re/Start program, he jumped at the chance. “It was a big change for me, but I’m very happy I did it,” Sinclair says. “It gave me an opportunity to bridge into a new career in technology. The curriculum was very interesting, and it gave a good high-level overview of modern technology. Each week was like a spark that might tell you where you might want to go deeper.”

BMO’s first AWS re/Start program finished in April 2022, at which point Littlewolfe and Sinclair both began 6-month internships. After that, both found full time employment with BMO as Software Developers. Tung says the results were immediately clear. The program tapped into huge demand in Indigenous communities and created a lot of excitement within the company. A second cohort is already in the works.

“I was amazed by the amount of support and buzz this has gotten within the organization,” Tung says. “Combined with our existing cloud certification programs through Skills Guild, AWS re/Start really gives us full-spectrum access to talent at every stage. We started small to test it, but it turned out the demand inside the company was massive. It’s really a win-win-win. Great for us, great for Indigenous communities, and great for our new employees.”