As major hydroelectric projects loom large on the municipality’s horizon, the Town of Kapuskasing is taking a close look at itself to ensure it will have the workforce necessary to meet employers’ impending needs.
As major hydroelectric projects loom large on the municipality’s horizon, the Town of Kapuskasing is taking a close look at itself to ensure it will have the workforce necessary to meet employers’ impending needs.
With nearly $200,000 in funding, including $139,630 from the province and the remainder from the municipality, the town is aggressively pursuing an inventory of local skill sets to identify any need for training among the population of 8,500.
The reason, says Mayor Alan Spacek, is to be able to supply major employers for projects around the corner. These include Ontario Power Generation’s impending multi-billion-dollar redevelopment of hydroelectric facilities on the Lower Mattagami, as well as a $70-million 20-megawatt hydroelectric project on the Kapuskasing River.
“It’s a good business practice to go through this process,” says Spacek.
“We need to be as ready as we can be, with Ontario Power Generation,
Hydromega and biomass projects potentially in our future. The more prepared we are, the better.”
Labour and demographic surveys have already been mailed out to every household, as well as having been distributed by hand in popular locations and in partnership with area businesses.
With a response rate of 18 per cent, the results are in the process of being analyzed and compiled into a report, according to the Kapuskasing Community Adjustment Committee’s (CAC) project manager Michelle Lebel.
“We’re just starting to examine trends and demands, and once complete, we’ll make the appropriate recommendations to the community, to business and to various educational partners,” says Lebel.
Layoffs have changed employment at the local Tembec facility from 890 in 2006 to its current total of 618. While some of the layoffs have been offset by a doubling of employment at the nearby Agrium phosphate mine from 100 staff in 2006 to nearly 200 today, local officials recognize this is cyclical and will not translate to long-term sustainability, says Lebel.
While many of the laid-off workers may be able to find new jobs in the impending projects, Spacek says they may require substantially different skill sets than those they’ve developed during their time at Tembec.
However, Spacek is quick to point out that not all is “doom and gloom” within the forestry industry.
Although there are challenges in existing markets such as newsprint, the province’s ongoing discussions surrounding biomass could prove to be a real benefit for Kapuskasing. In particular, he points to what he refers to as the “versatile” Tembec plant, as well as the town’s optimal geographic location and its strong level of infrastructure.
Still, this too may require different skill sets than are currently available.
The aging population and workforce is another factor, says Lebel. The median age of the town was 44.7 years as of the 2006 census, 5.7 years older than the provincial average.
What’s more, the outmigration of the local youth is ensuring that the impending wave of retirees will be more difficult to replace. With the knowledge that many young people are prone to leaving, local new apprenticeships are also becoming harder to secure.
However, some preliminary results from the survey have been positive. As much as 70 per cent of the population is bilingual, and the vast majority of non-retired respondents indicated a willingness to retrain beyond their existing skills. In the coming months, the committee will look to hire a consultant to study how this can feed into the impending big-ticket projects, and to pursue a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis.
Focus groups will also be created in partnership with local educational institutions and businesses.
Once developed, officials will begin a community education and information campaign to translate the results of their findings.
After the appropriate needs have been identified, discussions will begin with schools and businesses to see what can be done.
In particular, the region has an “excellent” relationship with Collége Borèal, which has a branch in the area, as well as Northern College, which has shown interest in having a local presence, says Spacek.
As part of the initiative, the CAC has also developed a directory of businesses available not only within Kapuskasing, but in other municipalities along the Highway 11 corridor, such as Hearst, Chapleau and Smooth Rock Falls. This has already been completed and presented to OPG and its project contractors, allowing communities throughout the region to help ensure each will have the opportunity to participate.
“When one community benefits, we all benefit,” says Spacek. “We’re all closely linked.”
