But organizations need to find other avenues as the demographics bubble grows, such as hiring someone with IT skills who doesn't have a mainframe background, someone who took evening courses through continuing education or hiring new trainees that have mainframe background from college or university, he said.

Ryerson University in Toronto provides certification courses on the mainframe for IT professionals who want to enhance their resume or business skills. French speakers can turn to Cégep de Thetford in Thetford Mines, QC, which is preparing to launch an online program focused specifically on IBM's mainframe. The first course is scheduled to run in the spring of 2010.

What makes the mainframe platform attractive, according to Bird, is that it is viewed as a little exotic and unique. "I've been associated with it for 29 years. It's been a fantastic career for me," he said.

"Once you understand the business value it drives, the people who have taken the time to enhance their skills are very pleased to be working in that environment because typically they are working for the Fortune 1000 in Canada," said Bird.

The hottest areas for IT employment today are positions at the front end of the applications development lifecycle, according to Sapphire Technologies Canada.