New software testing lab officially opens in Sault Ste. Marie

First set of Sault Ste. Marie PLATO Software Testing grads (Nicole Di Donato/CTV Northern Ontario)

A new lottery and gaming software testing lab has officially opened in downtown Sault Ste. Marie.

Professional Quality Assurance Ltd and PLATO Testing hosted a grand opening for the new Centre of Excellence in Software Tuesday, July 30.

It also is celebrating the graduation of the first group of Indigenous students who have completed the PLATO Software Tester Training program at Sault College and will now begin full-time employment with the company.

The 11 new grads underwent a six-month training and internship program that launched earlier this year, to build the skills required in the information technology sector, with a focus on the growing lottery and gaming industry.

PQA Founder, Keith McIntosh, established the IT services training and employment model in order to bring opportunities to Indigenous people while addressing the technology talent shortage in Canada. The PLATO approach offers software testing training at no cost to the students and results in full-time employment once completed as a means of economic reconciliation.

Currently, PLATO Testing employs more than 50 full-time Indigenous software testers across Canada.

Chief Paul Syrette of Garden River First Nation, along with MPP Ross Romano, and MP Terry Sheehan attended the opening celebrations in Sault Ste. Marie.

More to come from CTV Northern Ontario's Nicole Di Donato.