Finding a job in Toronto right now is not just for people who are currently out of work.

Upskilling, reskilling, whatever you want to call it — the idea of adding on more credentials or knowledge to your resume is getting increasingly prevalent in this Hunger Games-esque Toronto job market.

Lighthouse Labs, which is based in Vancouver but has a Toronto office, built its business around the idea. It's a tech education company that offers 12-week bootcamps for web development and data science across Canada.

CEO Jeremy Shaki tells blogTO that in his experience, the need for upskilling has only increased in recent years.

"What every business realizes," he explains, "is it's a huge competitive advantage to have learning cultures and people who are learning because it actually allows them to do more 'skill-up' and gain competitive advantages."

When it comes to Toronto, he singled out the city (alongside Montreal) as a place that has a huge desire for knowledge around data and AI innovations.

Where to find upskilling programs

There are many other programs available in Toronto and Ontario — like an eight-week e-commerce course for those aged 18 to 29, or a 12-week program on construction technology.

TMU's ADaPT (advanced digital and professional training) program offers training to post-secondary grads and students in their final semester, helping them with digital skills like data analytics and SEO along with networking, sales fundamentals and business writing.

At the Chang School of Continuing Education, TMU has a bunch of upskilling courses ranging from VR and AR development for smartphones, 3D printing, and project management.

There are also plenty of courses available at Quick Train Canada, which is a program funded by an initiative from colleges across the country to bridge skills gaps. It offers online, in-person, or hybrid microcredentials in cleantech, transportation, agriculture, construction, industry development, and natural resources.

Who is upskilling for?

Rudy Pratap Singh works at Astra Design Systems, an engineering consulting firm in the city. On the side, he's been taking an online course from McMaster University to help transition his role from project engineer to project manager.

"I could have gone for a Bachelor's, but instead went for a microcredential like this one," he says. "There's a lot more that I can do with that instead of going back for a Bachelor's in my engineering field."

Rudy Pratap Singh is in the middle of a McMaster project management course. Photo by Rudy Pratap Singh.

The program consists of three 10-week courses to earn your certificate. Pratap Singh has been in his role for the last three years, and when we chatted he had just finished the first third of the McMaster program on the fundamentals of project management. (The next two-thirds are all about "stakeholder communication and stakeholder analysis.")

He also tells me he finds it easy to balance a full-time job with the course load, since the program was designed for people with that in mind. All of his assigments are due midnight on Monday every week, giving him time on the weekend to complete anything he might have missed.

The program is actually fully supported and paid for by his work; after talking with his boss, they both agreed that it would not only help him but also help the company.

Pratap Singh tells me he wanted to take the initiative to speed up his own professional development.

"If I don't go for it," he says, "nobody else is going to do it for you."