Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I was starting to say we have 24 students in the dev degree program currently, 50% men and 50% women, so 12 women and 12 men. I'm also thrilled to say that 25% of the students are mature students, meaning they've been out in the workforce and have come back and are reskilling, which is fantastic. And 20% identify as LGBTQ+, which is great. We're also hiring 20 more students in September.
Our main recommendation today is twofold. One is to prioritize and invest in programs that level the playing field in teaching technology to groups that are typically excluded from technology. Two is to support work-integrated learning programs like the Shopify one that provide a truly integrated learning experience for students concurrent with their university or college studies.
The first point leads into the second: enabling kids, teens, and under-represented groups with technology education. By doing this we are growing the available talent in Canada. All of this feeds into a better educated, more knowledgeable, and more diverse workforce for the future of Canada.
I have one more thing just in concluding. This fall we'll be announcing a new university partner for our dev degree program in Toronto. Our new university partner's senate recently voted unanimously that the dev degree model is excellent and should come to their university. This is amazing. This senate body is a diverse body of academics that struggles to agree on anything, so having them agree that dev degree is excellent and belongs at that university is a powerful validation and encouragement of our work. It is our hope to expand the program across the country to ensure Canada is a world leader in the development of highly skilled, job-ready computer engineering graduates.
Thank you very much for your time.