ReTrain Canada

Cybersecurity breaches are becoming increasingly costly for businesses, and the latest data from Statistics Canada paints a concerning picture.

Canadian companies spent $1.2 billion on recovery from cyberattacks in 2023, double what they spent just two years earlier. While the percentage of businesses falling victim to attacks has slightly decreased, (one may argue there is less reporting) the financial consequences of breaches continue to escalate. With over 80% of cyberattacks beginning with business email compromise (BEC), highlighting that cybersecurity is not just an IT issue—it's every employee's responsibility and the solutions go beyond a bigger digital padlock.

Even though businesses are spending more than ever—$11 billion on prevention and detection in 2023, up from $9.7 billion in 2021—major organizations like Indigo, The Weather Network, Sun Life Financial, and the Calgary and Toronto public libraries being hit recently, this begs the question: Is the solution beyond IT alone?

With fewer companies paying ransoms (or admitting it)—this leads to rebuilding systems, losing critical time and data in the process. Meanwhile, bad actors sell the stolen data, compounding the damage and kicking the continuing financial can down the road for companies.

With such high stakes, it's clear that training employees, creating a culture of cybersecurity accountability, not just awareness, and understanding where your real risks are, is critical. Recognizing and understanding the cyber risks associated with employee decisions, their actions, organizational structure and governance are crucial. IT teams are not equiped to involve themselves in these aspects of cyber risk- the data proves it, so the responsibility lies across organizations. In a world where cyber threats continue to evolve, it’s time to think beyond IT and engage every part of the organization in the fight against these sophisticated attacks.

Meet Mike Jansen, mentor at ReTrain Canada.

Mike has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and skills from his past experiences, including being a decorated veteran, a syndicated sports talk show host on national radio, and a project manager in residential land development projects.

He loves to give back to the community by helping others in any way he can and this mindset brought him to ReTrain. Having restarted his career four times, Mike understands the situation of many students, and helps them learn new things at their pace. Mike brings a passion and enthusiasm to every course he teaches and strives to build relationships with each one of his students.

Mike teaches various courses at ReTrain including: computer training, leadership training, customer service, sales skills, and has helped co-create a course in workplace fundamentals. His desire to develop the course was to help equip veterans and mature students with the required office skills to get them accustomed to the current working environment. He also helps immigrant students to sharpen their previous transferrable skills to attain employment in Canada.

Stronger Together | Embracing Diversity in the Workplace

Prioritizing diversity in the workplace is essential to the success of your organization. Diversity in the workplace comes with a full host of benefits including:
- Introduction of new ideas and creativity
- Better decision-making and problem-solving
- A wider range of skill sets and viewpoints
- Creating a culture that amplifies diverse voices

ReTrain aims to break down barriers for people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, and genders; because everyone brings their own unique experience and voice to the table and deserves to succeed in a career that serves them. In prioritizing diversity across organizations, we actively seek opportunities and partnerships that support students from every walk of life.