Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you.
I'm the executive director of Coding for Veterans, an organization that partners with the University of Ottawa to deliver software development and cybersecurity retraining. The program is delivered 100% online.
Earlier this year, we had an economic impact study done on our program by Accenture. There were some great findings that came from that report, which I've circulated amongst members.
First of all, someone who leaves the military and gets a job versus someone who leaves the military and comes to our program and then gets employment will typically see an increase of about $30,000 a year in their annual salary. In addition, it puts them on a trajectory similar to someone who has a four-year university degree. The government, through either the ETB fund or other mechanisms to fund tuition, will actually see a return on their investment for that veteran in under two years. What's interesting is that the average age of someone in our program is 39 years old. By the time they retire, they will have pumped an additional $1.3 million into Canada's GDP.
There are really two key recommendations that we'd like the committee to consider, not only for female veterans but for veterans in general. First, can veterans access their education transition benefit after they have secured a date of release? Secondly, can Veterans Affairs Canada hold security clearances while students are in the retraining program to then be given to employers? Both of those recommendations are regulatory in nature and don't require a law to be passed.
I brought one of our superstar students along, Elena Vazquez, to talk about her release from the military.