By NICK STEWART
The mining industry can expect massive labour shortages and ongoing project delays if steps are not taken to curb the shortfall of nearly 100,000 professionals in Canada within the next decade, according to a senior manager with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM).
“It’s a serious problem, and it’s going to be difficult to address,” John Mason, senior manager, Ontario Geological Survey (OGS), says.
“Many companies are starting to feel the crunch already. Even we’re starting to feel it here at the OGS as we have a tough time staffing key positions as people are lured away to industry by the promise of more money, which is pretty symptomatic of the kind of company-hopping you’re seeing across the entire sector.”
According to the Mining Labour Market Transition Project: Summary Report, a study published this summer by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, the tremendous growth of the mining industry and an impending wave of retirees will require a massive infusion of new blood.
In fact, the Canadian mining industry will require an additional 790 trades workers and equipment operators and 230 new workers in natural and applied sciences every year for 10 years, even without factoring in the need to replace workers lost to retirement or turnover.
While the specific needs of Ontario in this quandry cannot be specifically identified, they are likely to be a significant portion of the presumed 100,000 total, says Marc Leroux, manager of marketing and information services with the OGS. Pointing to projects such as the 2008 opening of the De Beers Victor project, which will require the hire of nearly 300 employees, he says the province is rife with mining projects that will only continue to siphon manpower.
“It’s unprecedented, even at the early stage of exploration. I know a lot of companies that have access to diamond drills, and have no problems getting access to equipment, but can’t get diamond drillers. So even at the pre-mining, early stage of development, we’re seeing the crunch.”
As the president and CEO of Ursa Major Minerals Incorporated and the chairman of Patricia Mining Corp., Richard Sutcliffe is all too aware of the labour challenges facing mining juniors in Ontario.
With both companies involved in imminent production or potential production decisions, Sutcliffe says the shortage of mining talent has had a definite impact on business.
“Where we’re particularly feeling the pinch is with skilled technical workers such as engineers and geologists, and it’s certainly holding our business back,” Sutcliffe says. “Although it’s not affecting our actual operations, it’s certainly delaying and pushing back our timelines.”
In an attempt to deal with the growing problem, Sutcliffe has attempted to leverage declining employment levels in the forestry industry.
Following a rash of sawmill downsizing, some ailing forest communities such as Espanola and Dubreuilville have proven to be fertile ground for potential hires.
This has allowed Ursa Major to tend to growing labour gaps and employee shortages at its Sudbury area Shakespeare nickel project and the Patricia Mining/Richmont Mines Inc.’s Island Gold Mine project near Wawa.
The company has put retrained and redeployed workers to use in a variety of roles, including heavy equipment operators, mechanics and road builders.
“We have found that the heavy equipment skills of forestry workers can be readily redeployed in mining,” Sutcliffe says. “Right now, they’re making up the backbone of our workforce.”
Nearly half of the 100 employees spread across the two sites have been drawn from forestry, and Sutcliffe anticipates increasing the number significantly as the Shakespeare site will soon require 150 workers.
To that end, the company is also working to develop an employment agreement with the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation near Massey.
These kinds of mutually beneficial partnerships with existing but largely untapped workforces, such as forestry and First Nations, is just part of the solution, Mason says.
Other means of rectifying the problem may potentially lie within the educational sector, he says. Initiatives such as Collège Boréal’s decision to build a trade school in Timmins is a positive step, as is the development of the Federated School of Mines and the general increase of apprenticeship programs throughout the province. By alerting young people to the wealth of opportunities in the mining sector, the industry can hope to continue the reversal of the 1990s-era student trend away from geosciences and skilled trades, Mason says.
“The labour issue is something that raises a lot of difficult questions and no particular answers,” Mason says.
http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca
http://www.ursamajorminerals.com
http://www.patriciamining.com
