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Constance Lake, Collège Boréal partner on truck training

Constance Lake First Nation is teaming up with Collège Boréal to offer the AZ truck driving program to its community members.

Constance Lake First Nation is teaming up with Collège Boréal to offer the AZ truck driving program to its community members.

The program is being offered through the college’s Hearst campus, and is being supported by funding from Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment & Training Services. Constance Lake is located along the Highway 11 corridor just west of Hearst.

This fall, five young women and three young men are taking part in the program offered in collaboration with Collège Boréal’s Timmins campus.

“Members of the Constance Lake First Nation community can now earn their AZ licence locally,” Chief Fred Sackaney said in a news release. “Upon completion of the program, they can work for the locally owned company Weekoban Trucking and help meet the needs of the trucking industry in Northern Ontario.”

“Collège Boréal has been helping young people reach their professional aspirations for the past 20 years,” added Boréal president Pierre Riopel. “Recognizing the labour shortages in trades, we are proud to contribute to the sustainability of Northern Ontario communities through programs such as this.”

Collège Boréal offers various continuing education programs in Hearst, Kapuskasing, and Timmins. The AZ truck driving program can be completed in six, eight or 12 weeks. Although women only represent approximately 3 per cent of truck drivers in Canada, five out of the eight students enrolled in Collège Boréal’s AZ truck driving program this fall are women.

Students who meet the requirements for Second Career through Employment Ontario services can receive funding to cover a portion or all of the costs associated with the program.

According to Trucking Human Resources Canada, the truck transportation sector will need a minimum of 153,000 additional workers by 2021 (an average of 14,100 workers per year) to address the increase in demand, current vacancies, and retirements in an aging workforce.