What is the Expressway Cyber program?
Riipen and COSTI have joined forces to bridge the gap between untapped talent and real-world work experience. This initiative connects forward-thinking employers with skilled, job-ready professionals from the Expressway Cyber program. This program provides accessible internships to support a thriving, skills-first digital tech workforce.
Why is Expressway Cyber important for learners?
The Expressway Cyber Program allows learners within the cybersecurity sector to benefit from work-based learning experiences through up to 80-hour projects. Learners are able to enhance and showcase their skills, form employer networks, and create a virtual portfolio to take forward in their career journey. Completed remotely over up to 8 weeks, employer projects provide an authentic experience and support career clarity to pave the way for success in the dynamic job market.
Am I an eligible employer?
Employers must be a registered Canadian business or non-profit organization.
Employers may not be:
An elected official
Part of an organization that engages in partisan political activities, and/or a federal, state, territorial, or municipal government
Publicly funded post-secondary institution
You will be asked to verify your company information when joining the Expressway Cyber program. You can find out more about our employer verification process here.
What is the employer registration process?
To sign up for the Expressway Cyber program, you will first need to join the Expressway Cyber Portal where you can post your projects to be matched to the program. If you are new to Riipen, you will be prompted to create an employer account and populate your company’s portal profile. On joining the program, you will be asked to verify that you meet the Expressway Cyber Program eligibility criteria, as outlined in our Terms and Conditions here. For more info on the verification process, view this article here.
What does an Expressway Cyber project need to include?
Employers can post a range of Cyber projects. Projects should provide 60-80 hours of work per participant, and each project must be completed over 4-8 weeks. For more information on how to create and submit a project for Expressway Cyber, you can consult this article.
How many projects can I submit, and how many learners can I take on?
There’s no limit to how many projects an employer can submit to the Expressway Cyber program. The learners will be assigned in teams of 3-5, directly to the project through the program.
What if my project requires more than 80 hours of work?
Projects are assigned teams of up to 5 learners, which means your project should be able to be completed over 400 hours in total. If you think you will need more than this, we recommend splitting the work and posting multiple projects to work with more than one Expressway Cyber team.
What if my project timeline needs to change?
All Expressway Cyber projects must be completed over 4-8 weeks and in line with the cohort dates.
Each participant is expected to contribute 60-80 hours to the project. The project timeline cannot be adjusted.
What are the Terms and Conditions for the program?
In an effort to create a good Expressway Cyber experience for all parties, we have Terms and Conditions, which can be found here. Please take a moment to read through them. You will be asked to sign the T&Cs agreement when you post your project.
How do learners get connected to projects?
Learners will be placed into a team of 3-5 and will be matched to your project by the Expressway Cyber team. Learners must start and complete the project work through the Riipen platform. You are welcome to communicate with them outside of the platform as well. Learners will need a dedicated contact to answer questions and provide access to any resources they need throughout the project.
What additional supports are available to learners?
These learners are currently enrolled in an Expressway Cyber program focused on both technical and soft skills training and receive career mentorship as well.
Are learners employees of the organization?
No. Learners are neither employees of the organization they do a project for, nor of Riipen. As such, learners do not qualify for any benefits and will not obtain any record of employment from either organization.
Still have questions? Reach out to us via live-chat in the avocado found in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen or via email at expressway@riipen.com.