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Northern post secondary schools respond to trades demand

By NICK STEWART Up to 100,000 positions are expected to go unfilled in the Canadian mining industry in the coming decade, a reality of which Northern Ontario post-secondary schools are all too aware as they work to narrow the gap.

By NICK STEWART

Up to 100,000 positions are expected to go unfilled in the Canadian mining industry in the coming decade, a reality of which Northern Ontario post-secondary schools are all too aware as they work to narrow the gap.

Demand for skilled workers is so rampant that Boréal has found it necessary to expand its Timmins site, which is struggling to suit the growing needs of industry, according to Daniel Giroux, director of Entreprises Boréal.

As a result, a new 43,000-square-foot site is in the works, which will allow the school to move from 109 students to 371, effectively tripling its capacity. It will consolidate the multiple buildings scattered throughout the city, and will focus largely on skilled labor by catering to millwrights, heavy equipment mechanics, plumbing and construction.

The architectural designs have been put out for tender, with the full building expected to be tendered in March 2008. The first group of students will likely be attending in September 2009.

“There’s been a rising demand for students from Xstrata and contractors alike, so this was something we had to do,” Giroux says.

The demand for skilled trades apprentices is so rampant that companies regularly approach skilled trades classes in their first semester to make presentations and conduct interviews and tests.

In fact, industry poaching of students is so widespread that College Boréal has to tell its students about the importance of completing all three years of the program rather than being recruited to join the workforce in the second year, Giroux says.

Six “big players”, which include CVRD-Inco, Xstrata Nickel and Sandvik, and a number of smaller firms frequently pass through Cambrian College in October and November, according to Michel Barbeau, dean of the School of Skills Training/SkyTech.

“It’s just that competitive right now,” Barbeau says.

“It’s to the point where we’re seeing that level of interest from employers right off the bat.”

To help cope with the constant growth of interest in its graduates, Cambrian has also had to make some additions, with a new machining lab having been established this year. With 12 additional stations, the expansion allows for up to 80 more machining and millwright apprentices to be trained every year.

The welder/fitter training facilities have also been expanded by 20 welding booths, bringing the total to 45.

These expansions have required the addition of three new staff in the millwright, automotive and heavy equipment departments, while officials are currently looking to hire another welding professor.

However, Barbeau says the employment pressure on the industry also extends to the post-secondary realm, with many experienced workers opting to remain in the field instead of moving into teaching.

“These are individuals that are typically retiring from industry, but with industry booming the way it is and the mining sector in particular, we’re getting less and less to choose from.”

Contract training of two or three days of advanced, intensive classes to help them acquire more skills in their industrial setting, sometimes doing it either on-site or through distance education via the eDome.

As an example, he says one mining client asked Cambrian to help train its employees on emission controls for a specific engine in its facilities.

This kind of specialized custom training is also key for Northern College.

“They happen very readily, and it depends on what industry calls and tells us that they need,” Patricia Hamilton, coordinator of mining at Northern College, says.

As an example, she says the school recently established a surface diamond drill assistant program. Attended by 12 students, the short course was established at the behest of the mining industry, and demand is such that it is expected to be repeated again in the near future.

Other new initiatives include a 16-week mineral processing operator pre-employment training program, which recently prepared 12 First Nations students for employment at De Beers’ Victor diamond mine.

A full-fledged mining engineering technician program was also instituted in September, and interest has been so high that industry representatives have requested an additional January intake as well.

As it is primarily a distance education course, the program features students from all over Northern Ontario, and as far away as Manitoba. A blend of printed materials, video and voice-over PowerPoint presentations are offered, with hands-on experience earned during a spring visit to the Haileybury campus.

Laurentian University is pursuing a similar tack, having offered a four-year degree in mechanical engineering for the first time this fall.

Previously, mechanical engineering had been a partial program, with students completing the first two years in Sudbury and the remaining two in other universities. By offering a full-fledged program in the North, it’s expected that these engineering graduates will stay and become employed in the North.

“The North needs and depends on engineers,” Dr. Anis Farah, director of the school of engineering, says. “As well, the mining industry needs people skilled in automation and mechatronics, which are things we’re offering in this program.”

Laurentian has had to add six faculty and two technologists for the expanded program, and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund has committed $1 million to help purchase equipment.

The move has already paid off: whereas the two-year program would typically attracted four or five students, the new program has brought in 24 students this fall. That number is expected to jump to 35 in the coming years.   

www.borealc.on.ca
www.cambriancollege.ca
www.northernc.on.ca
www.laurentian.ca