Author Archives: Aaron Brindle

Expanding YouTube Shorts to Canada



Last year, we announced that we are building YouTube Shorts, a short-form video experience for anyone who wants to create short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones. Since introducing our initial beta in India and the US, we’ve already seen many creative, awesome Shorts from our community. People are also watching more and more Shorts around the globe - the YouTube Shorts player has surpassed 6.5 billion daily views globally. 


Starting today, we’ll gradually expand our Shorts beta to 23 more countries. We plan to introduce more features as we continue to build Shorts alongside creators and artists. Here’s an update on where we’re headed with YouTube Shorts based on feedback from our community. 


Unlocking a new playground of creativity 
Creation is at the core of short-form video, and we want to make it easy and fun to create Shorts. From the beginning, we had foundational creation tools for Shorts, like a multi-segment camera to string multiple video clips together, the ability to record with music, control speed settings, and more. As we continue to build Shorts alongside our creators and artists, we’ve added more features to try, like: 
  • Add text to specific points in your video 
  • Sample audio from other Shorts to remix into your own creation 
  • Automatically add captions to your Short 
  • Record up to 60 seconds with the Shorts camera 
  • Add clips from your phone’s gallery to add to your recordings made with the Shorts camera 
  • Add basic filters to color correct your Shorts, with more effects to come in the future 


And today, as part of our international expansion, we’re launching the ability to sample audio from videos across YouTube - which includes billions of videos worldwide - unlocking a new playground of creativity like never before. This means you can give your own creative spin on the content you love to watch on YouTube and help find it a new audience — whether it’s reacting to your favorite jokes, trying your hand at a creator’s latest recipe, or re-enacting comedic skits. Creators will be in control and will be able to opt out if they don’t want their long form video remixed. 


We’ve also worked alongside our music partners to make sure artists and creators have a large library of songs to use in their Shorts. As we expand Shorts, the library and number of partners will continue to grow. 


Stay tuned for more creation tools rolling out in the future as we continue to build Shorts. 


Delivering a seamless viewing experience across YouTube 
We know that creation is only one part of the Shorts experience. We also want to help people find Shorts to enjoy and help creators get discovered. We’ve introduced a row on the YouTube homepage especially for Shorts, have launched a new watch experience that lets you easily swipe vertically from one video to the next, and have added a Shorts tab on mobile that makes it easier for you to watch Shorts with a single tap. 


We’re also exploring how to deepen your connection with Shorts content, creators, and artists you’re most interested in by integrating it with the YouTube you already know and love. For instance, if you hear a snippet of a song on Shorts, you can easily find the full song, watch the music video, or learn more about the artist —all on YouTube. And now it works both ways. Loving music from Mustafa or Faouzia? Tap the create button right from the video to make your own Short with that audio, or check out how others are using it on Shorts. 


As more people create and watch Shorts, we expect that our systems will get even better, improving our ability to help you discover new content, trends, and creators you’ll love. 


Supporting mobile creators 
YouTube has helped an entire generation of creators turn their creativity into businesses and become the next generation media companies. Over the last three years, we’ve paid more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies worldwide. 


Shorts is a new way to watch and create on YouTube, so we’ve been taking a fresh look at what it means to monetize Shorts and reward creators for their content. We are deeply committed to supporting the next generation of mobile creators with Shorts, and are actively working on what monetization options will look like in the future. 


As our first step in this journey, we recently introduced the YouTube Shorts Fund, a $100M fund distributed over the course of 2021-2022. We’ll share additional details, including what countries the fund will be available in, as we get closer to launching the fund in the coming months. 


The Shorts beta will start rolling out today and will be available to everybody in Canada over the next couple weeks. We know that it will take us time to get this right, and we're just getting started. We can't wait for you to try Shorts and help us build a first-class short-form video experience right on YouTube.

Expanding YouTube Shorts to Canada



Last year, we announced that we are building YouTube Shorts, a short-form video experience for anyone who wants to create short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones. Since introducing our initial beta in India and the US, we’ve already seen many creative, awesome Shorts from our community. People are also watching more and more Shorts around the globe - the YouTube Shorts player has surpassed 6.5 billion daily views globally. 


Starting today, we’ll gradually expand our Shorts beta to 23 more countries. We plan to introduce more features as we continue to build Shorts alongside creators and artists. Here’s an update on where we’re headed with YouTube Shorts based on feedback from our community. 


Unlocking a new playground of creativity 
Creation is at the core of short-form video, and we want to make it easy and fun to create Shorts. From the beginning, we had foundational creation tools for Shorts, like a multi-segment camera to string multiple video clips together, the ability to record with music, control speed settings, and more. As we continue to build Shorts alongside our creators and artists, we’ve added more features to try, like: 
  • Add text to specific points in your video 
  • Sample audio from other Shorts to remix into your own creation 
  • Automatically add captions to your Short 
  • Record up to 60 seconds with the Shorts camera 
  • Add clips from your phone’s gallery to add to your recordings made with the Shorts camera 
  • Add basic filters to color correct your Shorts, with more effects to come in the future 


And today, as part of our international expansion, we’re launching the ability to sample audio from videos across YouTube - which includes billions of videos worldwide - unlocking a new playground of creativity like never before. This means you can give your own creative spin on the content you love to watch on YouTube and help find it a new audience — whether it’s reacting to your favorite jokes, trying your hand at a creator’s latest recipe, or re-enacting comedic skits. Creators will be in control and will be able to opt out if they don’t want their long form video remixed. 


We’ve also worked alongside our music partners to make sure artists and creators have a large library of songs to use in their Shorts. As we expand Shorts, the library and number of partners will continue to grow. 


Stay tuned for more creation tools rolling out in the future as we continue to build Shorts. 


Delivering a seamless viewing experience across YouTube 
We know that creation is only one part of the Shorts experience. We also want to help people find Shorts to enjoy and help creators get discovered. We’ve introduced a row on the YouTube homepage especially for Shorts, have launched a new watch experience that lets you easily swipe vertically from one video to the next, and have added a Shorts tab on mobile that makes it easier for you to watch Shorts with a single tap. 


We’re also exploring how to deepen your connection with Shorts content, creators, and artists you’re most interested in by integrating it with the YouTube you already know and love. For instance, if you hear a snippet of a song on Shorts, you can easily find the full song, watch the music video, or learn more about the artist —all on YouTube. And now it works both ways. Loving music from Mustafa or Faouzia? Tap the create button right from the video to make your own Short with that audio, or check out how others are using it on Shorts. 


As more people create and watch Shorts, we expect that our systems will get even better, improving our ability to help you discover new content, trends, and creators you’ll love. 


Supporting mobile creators 
YouTube has helped an entire generation of creators turn their creativity into businesses and become the next generation media companies. Over the last three years, we’ve paid more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies worldwide. 


Shorts is a new way to watch and create on YouTube, so we’ve been taking a fresh look at what it means to monetize Shorts and reward creators for their content. We are deeply committed to supporting the next generation of mobile creators with Shorts, and are actively working on what monetization options will look like in the future. 


As our first step in this journey, we recently introduced the YouTube Shorts Fund, a $100M fund distributed over the course of 2021-2022. We’ll share additional details, including what countries the fund will be available in, as we get closer to launching the fund in the coming months. 


The Shorts beta will start rolling out today and will be available to everybody in Canada over the next couple weeks. We know that it will take us time to get this right, and we're just getting started. We can't wait for you to try Shorts and help us build a first-class short-form video experience right on YouTube.

Pixel Buds A-Series: Rich sound, iconic design, just $139


When we first introduced our truly wireless Pixel Buds, we were most excited about how such a small product could pack so much functionality. Now, we’re making that same premium sound quality, along with hands-free help from Google Assistant and real-time translation, available at an affordable price.

Introducing Pixel Buds A-Series: rich sound, clear calls and Google helpfulness, all in a low-profile design – for just $139. 


A premium audio experience 
Our research shows that most people describe great sound as full, clear and natural. This is what guides our audio tuning process and shows up in other devices, like Nest Audio. And Pixel Buds A-Series are no exception. Custom-designed 12 mm dynamic speaker drivers deliver full, clear and natural sound, with the option for even more power in those low tones with Bass Boost. 


To experience the full range of the speaker’s capabilities, especially in the low frequencies, a good seal is essential. We’ve scanned thousands of ears to make Pixel Buds A-Series fit securely with a gentle seal. In order to keep the fit comfortable over time, a spatial vent reduces in-ear pressure. 


Each earbud also connects to the main device playing audio, and has strong individual transmission power, to keep your sound clear and uninterrupted. 

The stabilizer arc ensures a gentle, but secure fit while spatial vents prevent that plugged ear feeling.


Sound quality can also be affected by your environment. The new Pixel Buds A-Series come with Adaptive Sound, which increases or decreases the volume based on your surroundings. This comes in handy when you're moving from the quiet of your home to somewhere noisy like a city street, or while jogging past a loud construction site. 


And your calls will have great sound, too. To make sure your calls are as clear as they can be, Pixel Buds A-Series use beamforming mics to focus on your voice and reduce outside noise, making your calls crystal clear (though of course, overall call quality depends on signal strength, environment, network, and other factors). Once your call is over, quickly get back to your music with a simple “Hey Google, Play my music.” 


Stylish and hardworking 
For Pixel Buds A-Series, we wanted to bring back the iconic Clearly White, but added a twist with new gray undertones. For a darker alternative, Pixel Buds A-Series are also available in Dark Olive. We use nature for inspiration in our colours all the time, and our design team was looking to create soothing tones that evoke a sense of comfort and relaxation. 


Pixel Buds’ design is inspired by the idea that great things can come in small packages: Pixel Buds A-Series include up to five hours of listening time on a single charge or up to 24 hours using the charging case. And with the ability to get a quick charge — about 15 minutes in the case gives you up to three hours of listening time — you can keep listening anywhere.1 


They’re comfortable enough for those long listening sessions, and don’t worry if some of that time is devoted to a sweaty workout or a run in the rain: The earbuds are also sweat and water-resistant.2 

Hands-free access to the best of Google 
Google Assistant is built right into the Pixel Buds A-Series. You can get quick hands-free help to check the weather, get an answer, change the volume, or have notifications read to you with a simple “Hey Google.” 


You can do more than just ask questions, though — for example, you can get real-time translation in more than 40 languages right in your ear while using a Pixel or Android 6.0+ phone. Say “Hey Google, help me speak Japanese” to start a conversation. For more information, including available languages and minimum requirements, visit g.co/pixelbuds/help. 


Pixel Buds A-Series are available for pre-order in the U.S. and Canada, arriving to customers by June 17. For country availability and prices, visit g.co/pixelbudsaseries. 


Partners: 
  • Source 
  • Staples 
  • BBYCA 
  • Walmart 
1 All listening times are approximate and were measured using music playback with pre-production hardware and software, with fully charged Pixel Buds A-Series and case, and other features disabled. Case is used to recharge Pixel Buds A-Series when their batteries are depleted. Charging times are approximate. Use of other features will decrease battery life. Battery life depends on device, features enabled, usage, environment and many other factors. Actual battery life may be lower. 
2 Pixel Buds A-Series (earbuds only) have a water protection rating of IPx4 under IEC standard 60529. Water resistance is not a permanent condition and may be compromised by normal wear and tear, repair, disassembly, or damage. 
 
Posted by Austine Chang

A Note on Bill C-10: Standing with Canadian creators and their fans

YouTube is a place where we give creators a voice and show them the world. Canadian creators are no exception. In fact, the Canadian YouTube creator ecosystem is one of the most diverse and successful in the world. And it is no surprise to us that they have earned loyal fans from both at home and abroad, in fact, over 90% of watch time of Canadian content comes from viewers outside of Canada. 


Making sure that people can find and enjoy all of this quality Canadian content is a big priority for YouTube and we support the goal of Bill C-10 to make sure Canadian creators and artists have a shot to be heard. However, we are deeply concerned about the possible unintended consequences that could negatively and unnecessarily impact the two communities we care about most: our creators and the millions of Canadians who use YouTube every day. 


YouTube gives Canadian creators a voice and shows them the world
At YouTube we have built a platform on a foundation of openness, enabling a rich diversity of Canadian creators to express themselves and share their artistry with the world. The openness of YouTube provides the opportunity to find a niche among an audience of billions. This is particularly the case for diverse creators and artists who may not fit the mainstream mould. Aysha Harun, a Muslim beauty vlogger out of Scarborough, Molly Burke, a blind fashion creator now based in LA or AsapSCIENCE, a duo of LGBTQ+ science educators or Leah Wei, an Asian creator out of Montreal who vlogs in French, Mandarin and English. All successful Canadian creators who would have likely been overlooked elsewhere but found their home on YouTube. 


How YouTube is supporting Canadian creators 
Creators’ success is what makes our platform thrive and we make substantial investments to specifically benefit Canadian Creators and the Canadian creative ecosystem. For example, through our YouTube Partner Program, the majority of advertising revenue is shared directly with the creator. We also offer tools such as Super Chat, Merch and Channel Memberships for creators to grow and build their businesses. In addition, creators retain full ownership of their content and get analytics on how their fans are engaging with their channel. 


Canadians are flourishing on our platform and we work to amplify the best of Canadian content, cultural moments and rising talent. We work closely with media and entertainment industry partners such as the Canada Media Fund with Encore+, Just for Laughs, CBC/Radio-Canada, Blue Ant Media, and more, to help them reach new domestic and global audiences. And to shine a light on up-and-coming talent, we launched Creator on the Rise a few years ago to give promising Canadian talent more local and global visibility to help them find their fans. Last year, we launched Artist on the Rise in Canada, which showcases a new music video from an emerging music artist to Canadian users every week. 


The “discoverability” debate 
Today, Canadians know what they search for on YouTube will be the most relevant, helpful content to them. If someone is searching for Canadian content, we will show them Canadian content. And we’ll continue to do so especially if that person likes or engages with that content. But if a student is researching American history or someone is looking for the best way to fix a flat tire, we want to make sure they have access to the most relevant content for their needs. If Bill-C10 rules were to go into effect as currently written, people would be seeing suggestions not based on their personal preferences or even what is most relevant, but what the government decides is “Canadian.” The rules around what is considered Canadian content are complex and it is very difficult to qualify. This stands to impact all creators but we are especially concerned about the impact on new and emerging creators as they will be up against players who have been following these rules for decades. 


We know that Canadians punch above their weight on YouTube and their content is wildly successful everywhere. So, what happens when other countries follow suit, favouring their own local voices? This could mean our creators and stories get less reach around the world, impacting the businesses and livelihoods of thousands of entrepreneurial Canadians. 


Modernizing broadcasting for the digital age is a worthwhile goal. It should not come at the expense of Canadian creators or the millions of Canadians that use platforms like ours. YouTube is the place for Canadian creativity without compromise. Let’s keep it that way. 


Posted by Jeanette Patell, Head of Public Policy, YouTube Canada

Search, explore and shop the world’s information, powered by AI

AI advancements push the boundaries of what Google products can do. Nowhere is this clearer than at the core of our mission to make information more accessible and useful for everyone.



We've spent more than two decades developing not just a better understanding of information on the web, but a better understanding of the world. Because when we understand information, we can make it more helpful  — whether you’re a remote student learning a complex new subject, a caregiver looking for trusted information on COVID vaccines or a parent searching for the best route home.



Deeper understanding with MUM



One of the hardest problems for search engines today is helping you with complex tasks — like planning what to do on a family outing. These often require multiple searches to get the information you need. In fact, we find that it takes people eight searches on average to complete complex tasks.



With a new technology called Multitask Unified Model, or MUM, we're able to better understand much more complex questions and needs, so in the future, it will require fewer searches to get things done. Like BERT, MUM is built on a Transformer architecture, but it’s 1,000 times more powerful and can multitask in order to unlock information in new ways. MUM not only understands language, but also generates it. It’s trained across 75 different languages and many different tasks at once, allowing it to develop a more comprehensive understanding of information and world knowledge than previous models. And MUM is multimodal, so it understands information across text and images and in the future, can expand to more modalities like video and audio.



Imagine a question like: “I’ve hiked Mt. Adams and now want to hike Mt. Fuji next fall, what should I do differently to prepare?” This would stump search engines today, but in the future, MUM could understand this complex task and generate a response, pointing to highly relevant results to dive deeper. We’ve already started internal pilots with MUM and are excited about its potential for improving Google products.

 


Information comes to life with Lens and AR



People come to Google to learn new things, and visuals can make all the difference. Google Lens lets you search what you see — from your camera, your photos or even your search bar. Today we’re seeing more than 3 billion searches with Lens every month, and an increasingly popular use case is learning. For example, many students might have schoolwork in a language they aren't very familiar with. That’s why we’re updating the Translate filter in Lens so it’s easy to copy, listen to or search translated text, helping students access education content from the web in over 100 languages.


 



AR is also a powerful tool for visual learning. With the new AR athletes in Search, you can see signature moves from some of your favourite athletes in AR — like Simone Biles’s famous balance beam routine.




Evaluate information with About This Result 



Helpful information should be credible and reliable, and especially during moments like the pandemic or elections, people turn to Google for trustworthy information. 


 

Our ranking systems are designed to prioritise high-quality information, but we also help you evaluate the credibility of sources, right in Google Search. Our About This Result feature provides details about a website before you visit it, including its description, when it was first indexed and whether your connection to the site is secure. 


 


 


This month, we’ll start rolling out About This Result to all English results worldwide, with more languages to come. Later this year, we’ll add even more detail, like how a site describes itself, what other sources are saying about it and related articles to check out. 

 


Exploring the real world with Maps



Google Maps transformed how people navigate, explore and get things done in the world — and we continue to push the boundaries of what a map can be with industry-first features like AR navigation in Live View at scale. We recently announced we’re on track to launch over 100 AI-powered improvements to Google Maps by the end of year, and today, we’re introducing a few of the newest ones. Our new routing updates are designed to reduce the likelihood of hard-braking on your drive using machine learning and historical navigation information — which we believe could eliminate over 100 million hard-braking events in routes driven with Google Maps each year.

 


If you’re looking for things to do, our more tailored map will spotlight relevant places based on time of day and whether or not you’re travelling. Enhancements to Live View and detailed street maps will help you explore and get a deep understanding of an area as quickly as possible. And if you want to see how busy neighbourhoods and parts of town are, you’ll be able to do this at a glance as soon as you open Maps.



More ways to shop with Google 



People are shopping across Google more than a billion times per day, and our AI-enhanced Shopping Graph — our deep understanding of products, sellers, brands, reviews, product information and inventory data — powers many features that help you find exactly what you’re looking for.



Because shopping isn’t always a linear experience, we’re introducing new ways to explore and keep track of products. Now, when you take a screenshot, Google Photos will prompt you to search the photo with Lens, so you can immediately shop for that item if you want. And on Chrome, we’ll help you keep track of shopping carts you’ve begun to fill, so you can easily resume your virtual shopping trip. We're also working with retailers to surface loyalty benefits for customers earlier, to help inform their decisions.



Last year we made it free for merchants to sell their products on Google. Now, we’re introducing a new, simplified process that helps Shopify’s 1.7 million merchants make their products discoverable across Google in just a few clicks.  



Whether we’re understanding the world’s information, or helping you understand it too, we’re dedicated to making our products more useful every day. And with the power of AI, no matter how complex your task, we’ll be able to bring you the highest quality, most relevant results.  



Prabhakar Raghavan, Senior Vice President, Google

More ways we’re making every day safer with Google





Every day, we focus on making sure you’re in control of your data by building products that are secure by default and private by design. At this year’s I/O, we’re introducing new features and technologies to keep you safer with Google. 



Putting you in control of your data 



Privacy is personal. That's why we make it easy for you to choose the settings that are right for you — whether that’s one place to manage settings in your Google Account, Auto-Delete options, or controls that appear in context when you’re using our products. We announced a number of new controls today: 

  • Quick delete in Search. We’re introducing a new, “quick delete” option to delete the last 15 minutes of your Search history with a single tap from the Google Account Menu. 

  • A passcode protected Locked Folder in Photos. Have you ever handed your phone to show someone a photo, but worried they might scroll to a personal or sensitive image — like a photo of your passport or a surprise gift? “Locked Folder” is a new feature in Google Photos —  a passcode-protected space where select photos can be saved separately. These photos won’t show up as you scroll through your grid or in shared albums. This feature is coming to Google Pixels first, and more Android devices throughout the year.

  • Location History reminders in your Maps Timeline. Now, when you see places you've visited in your Timeline, we'll remind you that it's because you turned on Location History — which you can easily turn off right there in your Timeline. 



1. New “quick delete” option in Search.  2. The new Locked Folder in Photos 3. Location History reminders in your Maps Timeline. 




We’re also introducing new, industry-leading transparency and permission features on Android 12. The new OS includes a Privacy Dashboard where you will see a timeline of when apps accessed your camera, microphone, or device location. We’ve also added indicators that show when your camera or microphone are in use, as well as easy toggles to disable access to both across your device. And you can now choose to share your approximate location with an app instead of a precise one.  



Building products that are secure by default



As recent high-profile third-party security incidents show, your information isn’t private if it’s not secure. With AI-driven technologies that protect billions of users around the world, our products are secure by default: every day, we block 100 million phishing attempts and 15 billion spam messages in Gmail and encrypt 4 billion photos. And Safe Browsing on Chrome and most other browsers helps keep the rest of the Internet secure, automatically protecting more than 4 billion devices.



One of the biggest security risks is still the continued reliance on passwords — they’re often easy to crack, used across multiple sites, or stolen in phishing attacks. That’s why we’ve been working towards a password-free future — focusing on safer ways to authenticate your identity and building multiple layers of protection into your Google Account, like automatic enrollment in 2-step verification. 



But because passwords are still required for most online accounts, we’ve also continued to improve our Password Manager, built directly into Chrome, Android and now iOS, to help you create, remember, save and auto-fill passwords across the web. Today, we announced new enhancements to Password Manager:

  • A new tool that makes it easy to import passwords from other password managers.

  • Deeper integrations with Chrome and Android to seamlessly fill your passwords across sites and apps, regardless of whether you’re on desktop or on mobile. 

  • Password Alerts that automatically warn you if we detect one of your saved passwords has been compromised via a third party breach.

  • A smart way to fix compromised passwords in Chrome with a simple tap. For supported sites and apps, whenever Password Manager finds a password that may have been compromised, you’ll see a "change password" button from Assistant. When you tap the button, the Assistant will not only navigate to the site, but also go through the entire process of changing your password. This feature is available on Android devices and will be rolling out to more sites and apps in the future.



1. A new way to fix compromised passwords in Chrome. 2. A new tool to import passwords from other password managers to Password Manager. 3. Password Alerts. 




Making our products private by design



We’ve pioneered new computing technologies like Federated Learning (invented by Google researchers in 2016) that make it possible to deliver helpful experiences while protecting individual data and privacy. We’ve also led on Differential Privacy, which powers some of our most helpful features and products, from our COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports to traffic predictions in Maps, without revealing individual user data. And this expertise guides our work on broader industry initiatives, like the open-source Privacy Sandbox. 



Now, we’re continuing that work with Android's Private Compute Core, which keeps your information safe and private for a number of popular AI-driven features like Live Caption (which displays captions based on audio), Now Playing (which tells you the song that’s playing) and Smart Reply (which suggests short responses to messages and emails). For these features, the audio and language processing happens exclusively on your device. Like the rest of Android, Private Compute Core is open source — it’s fully inspectable and verifiable by the security community. 



We’ll continue our work to make every day safer with Google with new controls, advanced security, and privacy-preserving technologies.



Jen Fitzpatrick, Senior Vice President, Core, Google


Creating an onramp to jobs in Canada with Google Career Certificates



I recently ‘sat down,’ (virtually on Google Meet, of course) with four graduates of our Google Career Certificate pilot with NPower Canada, a Google.org grantee. One learner had worked in the restaurant industry for years, but when COVID hit he needed to make a quick career shift, so he enrolled in the Google IT Professional certificate. In less than a year, he’s now an IT specialist at Toronto-based software company TouchBistro, where he brings his passion for the hospitality industry to a company that develops point of sale systems used by restaurants around the world. 


Although every graduate I spoke with had a different story to share, they all had one thing in common. Their lives had been disrupted over the last year in one way or another, but enrolling in these programs gave them a much needed purpose amidst a very difficult time. And it also opened up a window of opportunity to make a successful career transition - 83% of youth who graduated in September 2020 are now employed or in a new education program. 


Throughout the pandemic, unemployment rates have climbed, but rates among visible minority groups and youth ages 15-24 continue to be some of the highest. To recover, we need to invest in skills training in fields with demonstrable demand, and ensure our programs are reaching the communities that have felt the toughest economic impacts of the pandemic. That’s why today we’re committing $2 million to reskill job seekers for new careers in technology in under six months. This support includes a three-year Google.org grant to NPower Canada to deliver Google Career Certificate programs and to deploy 5,000 need-based scholarships to access the program. 


Google Career Certificates prepare job seekers for new, high-demand careers in growing sectors in under six months, with no degree or relevant experience required. This format helps break down barriers and create opportunities for underserved groups trying to enter the tech workforce. They’re available in Data Analytics, Project Management, UX Design and IT Support. And there’s a demand in Canada’s job market to fill these roles. According to Glassdoor, these four fields currently have more than 22,000 job openings across the country. 




The 5,000 Google Career Certificate scholarships will be distributed through NPower Canada, in collaboration with referral partners like Pathways to Education, Toronto Public Library and the YMCA. To further support these initiatives, Google Canada will provide the non-profits with additional funds to improve existing job training programs. 


To help create onramps to jobs, we’re also introducing a Google Career Certificate Employer Consortium for the scholarship graduates. The Employer Consortium is a group of employers, including Google, KPMG, TELUS and Loblaw, who will consider graduates of NPower Canada’s Google Career Certificate programs for eligible roles. For employers interested in connecting with skilled candidates and growing their talent pipeline, join the Google Career Certificate Employer Consortium by visiting g.co/grow/employers. 


The pandemic has served as a stress test for all of us. As hard as it’s been, it’s also shown us how resourceful and resilient we can be. As we look towards Canada’s economic recovery, making sure job seekers have the skills to match workforce demands will be crucial. No matter what the future throws at us, we’re here to help. For more information on the Google Career Certificates visit g.co/certificates-canada. To find out more information about the scholarships visit NPower Canada’s website. 


About Google Career Certificates: The Google Career Certificates were developed by Googlers as part of Grow with Google, a global initiative designed to create economic opportunities. The certificate programs are available in Data Analytics, Project Management, UX Design, IT Support. Outside of NPower Canada’s programming, the certificates are delivered through the online learning platform Coursera and are available in English, with select availability in French starting in 2022. 

Posted by Sabrina Geremia, VP & Country Manager, Google Canada

Get back to what you love: helping Canadians learn why, where and when you can get vaccinated

Last month, I watched a YouTube video with my 10 year olds about the differences in vaccines and how they are made. Learning has always played a huge role in my life, but over the last year, I’ve turned online more than ever to find answers to the many uncertainties of the pandemic. Finding accurate information about COVID-19 symptoms, treatments, testing centres and now, vaccines, has been an important part of fighting the virus and keeping everyone safe. And as more people have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, we’re making it easier to learn why, when and where you can get immunized. 


Supporting vaccine education on YouTube 
Just like how I turned to YouTube to find reliable information about the difference between vaccines, many people around the world are doing the same. In fact, over 70% of Canadians say they turn to YouTube to gather information and knowledge (Watchtime Canada). 


At the start of the pandemic last year, we invited Dr. Howard Njoo, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, to answer the top questions about COVID-19 from some of Canada’s top YouTube creators. Now that a number of vaccines have been approved by health authorities around the world, including Health Canada, the focus has shifted to ensuring as many people as possible actually get vaccinated when it is offered. 


That’s why we’ve teamed up with the Public Health Agency of Canada once again, this time to help answer Canada’s top questions about the vaccine with the help of Canadian YouTube creators. YouTube Creator Brandon Gonez sat down with Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, for a candid conversation and Dr. Njoo will return to speak with Montreal-based Creator Jay Machalani for an interview where together they will field questions from Jay’s community. The videos address a number of questions from ‘what differentiates an mRNA and viral-vector based COVID vaccine?’ to ‘can I travel after getting the COVID vaccine?’ 




Finding vaccination centres on Search and Maps 
In Canada, this past month, search interest in "vaccine near me" increased by over 10x and reached a record high as more people across the country became eligible. 



With vaccine rollout really starting to ramp up here, we’re once again working hard to provide Canadians with accurate information about vaccination facts and locations from coast to coast. Today, we’re introducing a feature which can help Canadians easily find vaccination sites near them, even faster in Search and Maps. 


All you have to do is type “COVID-19 vaccine” in either Search or Maps and the nearest vaccination locations around you will pop up. We’ll include details like whether an appointment or referral is required or if access is limited to specific groups. 



We’re working with partners like Montreal-based Clinia Health and other authoritative sources, such as government agencies and retail pharmacies, to gather vaccination location information and make it available to all. 



To help people stay up to date on the global vaccine roll out, we’ve also updated our features in Search to surface information on vaccine efficacy, side effects, priority groups, statistics and the latest COVID-19 related news. Simply type COVID-19 along with the province you are in to access this information. 
And, if you’re looking for a quick overview of locally relevant, timely and authoritative COVID-related updates, information panels continue to be a great resource for Canadians. 


Getting back to what we love 
Last year, we saw how digital tools played a critical role in helping us continue to learn, work and stay connected. These same tools will now help with COVID-19 recovery. 


As we look towards the future, and prepare to reunite in shared spaces, rebuild a healthy society, and stimulate a thriving economy, there is much to look forward to. In the meantime, our goal is to help Canadians stay informed on what we can all do to get us there. That includes listening to the experts urging us to get vaccinated. Building confidence and trust in vaccines will be an essential part of getting us back to who and what we love. 

Posted by Sabrina Geremia, vice president & country manager, Google Canada

Google’s ongoing commitment to Québec

To read this blog post in French, please click here.


Today we are announcing our intention to acquire property in Beauharnois, Québec. Upon completion of various conditions and receipt of government approvals, Google will be able to use the property for a future data center facility.


This will be an important addition to our long-standing presence in Québec. We planted roots in the province in 2004, with our first downtown Montréal office and only three employees. Nearly two decades later, our new Viger office space will have capacity to welcome up to 1000 employees when construction is complete. We look forward to welcoming back our Montréal-based software developers, world class cybersecurity team, sales, Chrome and Cloud experts, as well as our AI researchers.

 
Our support of digital innovation in Québec doesn’t stop at our own offices. Google Canada has been a long-time partner in the world-leading artificial intelligence ecosystem in Montréal. Just last fall, we renewed our relationship with Mila - the research institute with the largest concentration of deep learning academic researchers in the world. In addition to collaborating on research projects, Google has donated 3 million USD over three years, to fuel the important work Mila does, for the benefit of all Canadians.


By 2030, we aim to run our entire business on clean electricity every hour of every day. As one of the world’s largest producers of hydropower, Québec is an important region for helping us achieve this ambitious sustainability goal. 


“I am very proud to announce today a future major project for the region. Here, in Beauharnois, once the proposed project commences, it is estimated to generate well-paid jobs, both during construction and in the operation of the future data center. The growth of a company the scale of Google in Québec confirms our status as one of the world’s most dynamic and greenest technology hubs,” said Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy and Innovation.  


Based on industry standards for data center builds and our own experience, once construction begins on a data center, that construction phase at its peak can provide work for 300-500 people and ultimately an operational data center can employ dozens of people, at least 20-30 in skilled roles. And upon completion of all necessary conditions and receipt of government approvals for this specific site, and in line with similar investments we have made elsewhere in North America, we anticipate our initial investment for the new data center would be around $735 million CAD ($600 million USD).


Every day, demand for Google services is increasing and our physical infrastructure follows the same rhythm. Once acquired, this site in Beauharnois will ensure we have options to expand our data center infrastructure into Canada, when our business requires it.

Celebrating Canadian Googlers: Meet Matt Teskey



Editor's Note: To celebrate Google Canada’s 20th Anniversary, we're profiling some of the powerful, dynamic and creative Canadians at Google.


When the COVID-19 pandemic increased, Matt Teskey not only jumped at the opportunity to serve his community through Google, but also alongside his family. As a Program Manager for Firebase, Matt describes his role as bringing order from chaos and so it’s not surprising that during a time of uncertainty, Matt saw an opportunity to help others. 


What started as a fun activity for Matt to do with his wife and kids, quickly evolved to a local virtual scavenger hunt enjoyed by many across the Waterloo region. Leveraging Google Forms, Matt’s creativity saw no bounds, and the response from local educators, friends and community members has been overwhelming, with several inspired to create their own versions! 


Matt has also spearheaded an initiative to match Canadian nonprofits with Google volunteers to provide support for the collaboration and video conferencing tools in Google Workspace for Nonprofits. This program has evolved over the past 12 months and, merged with other related initiatives, has helped hundreds of Canadian nonprofits, and is always looking for additional nonprofits to support.


We recently sat down with Matt to learn more about the creative way he’s keeping his family and community connected. 


How would you describe your job at a dinner party to people who don't work in tech?
I work on Firebase, Google’s mobile platform for app developers, and my role as a program manager is to enable our teams to be successful as we build, release and support our software. I bring order from chaos and spend a lot of time getting people and tools organized and effective. 


What advice do you have for somebody looking to pursue a career in tech? 
I would say to get involved, explore different areas as much as you can. There are so many tools at your disposal, whether it’s social media and graphic design classes or coding. There is an opportunity to get really creative with a combination of school, volunteering and free online learning. Through volunteering, I learned a lot about organization and tools, which helped my entry into the tech space. 


I also think relationships are key. Get outside of your comfort zone, meet new people, foster and nurture new relationships. This can feel intimidating, but it can be as simple as getting involved in your community, joining different groups, connecting with like-minded people. 


In addition to your role, you also have been very involved in giving back. Can you tell us a bit about your work with Google’s 20 percent project time?
One of the amazing things at Google is that employees are encouraged to get involved in projects and initiatives outside of their day-to-day roles. Personally, I’m always looking for ways to work with Googlers outside of my teams — I’ve helped run office-wide innovation programs in the past, and in 2020 I initiated a program to give 1:1 support to Canadian nonprofits via our Google for Nonprofits offerings. 


Through this 20 percent project, it’s been a great way to serve the community, and the need for additional help and resources has been more important than ever. Initially, we thought our focus would be on helping with Google Ads Grants and putting together classes to promote and educate nonprofits on these offerings with Google. Once COVID hit, we started to see a lot of people and organizations struggling with how to adapt to online tools and video calls and saw an opportunity to pivot our outreach to focus on Google Workspace and how to use the free tools like Docs and Meet. The need to support nonprofits has grown tremendously. We've been able to work with Googlers across our Candian offices to extend our reach further and directly support nonprofits across the country and are always looking for more.


When you work at Google, it’s pretty easy to be inspired by the nonprofit work put in place by past Googlers, and it makes you want to build on top of that. I don’t know another company that gives its employees that opportunity to make such an impact. 


How was the transition to working from home? 
Well, at the start of COVID, everyone was locked down and struggling with work from home setups and how to stay connected. Working at Google, I had a really easy transition into work from home thanks to a good desk and technical setup and lots of experience working with teammates across North America through video conferencing and collaborative docs. My wife is a teacher, and my kids were schooling from home, so we were all here and just sort of figuring it out. I think we jumped right into a mindset of ‘this will be going on for a long time, so we better figure out how to stay connected and stay entertained.’ 


While working from home, I set up Google Meet video calls with my friends and family and do virtual game nights and virtual escape rooms. As I searched for fun activities online, I clicked into a Harry Potter-themed escape room and realized it was built using Google Forms. I connected with the author of the escape room, who shared an instruction video with me. My family and I decided to make one together. We started by designing some clues, then we went around our community and took pictures. We basically built a scavenger hunt in Google Forms in a day or two. 


Did you know the scavenger hunt would gain so much traction? 
It really started out as a fun activity my family could do together! When we first decided to make this, we knew people were adjusting to life at home, and many people were looking for creative, fun and free things to do with their kids. I was inspired by a virtual escape room and thought this is interesting and something that could be adapted for a scavenger hunt. My wife is an elementary school teacher, I’m a recent Cub Scout leader, and so we thought this would be a great resource to leverage and also share with our kids’ classmates. I’m happy to see so many other people using it and having fun while doing it! 


What has the response been from the community?
It's been really great! A few of my teacher friends were inspired to build their own  — one in particular is a geography teacher, so I helped him curate one for his class. He changed the pictures, the clues, and suddenly it turned into a cross Canada adventure for their geography class! 


I check online every once and a while, and we've heard from a few hundred families. The comments are always very positive, with people expressing gratitude for the half an hour or hour of escape that the game offered. Others leave comments requesting that we make another one with a specific theme in mind or for a different city. 


Now that we’re back in lockdown, do you have any plans to make another one?
Yeah, I’ve definitely thought about it. We thought about it being more tied in with my wife and son’s school, or maybe something with the surrounding towns. The kids also want to do something with theme parks or virtual travel destinations. We’ll probably build another one at some point, but it’s also really cool to see other people be inspired by our idea and develop their own.