Building a new mine in the frigid conditions of the high Arctic or planting spruce seedlings in a black-fly infested forest can be trying work.
But behind the scenes, there is an army of people who perform all the grunt work that get the prospectors, miners, tree planters or company executives into unforgiving places and makes them as comfortable as possible.
For more than 20 years, Outland Camps has been housing, feeding, operating and re-supplying clients working in the remote reaches of Northern Ontario and Canada’s Far North.
Beginning in the mid-1980s as a reforestation company, Dave Bradley, the regional manager for their Thunder Bay office and yard, has watched the enterprise evolve from the very beginning.
"I watched the first tree go into the ground in 1986," said the Pembroke native who broke in as a planter and crew boss for a contractor working with Outland in the Chapleau-Timmins area.
Over the years, the company realized setting up and managing camps in remote places for other clients was more lucrative and a new business was spun off in the camp services and catering.
Outland handles a diverse range of projects depending on clients’ needs.
"Our footprint is so big across the country, because of our various operations, that we tend to have business relationships set up all over the place," said Bradley.
Outland Camps can handle setting up turn-key accommodations ranging from a prospector's tent camp of 10 people to full-blown dormitory module and trailer camps housing as many as 500 workers.
In the case of big miners like Agnico-Eagle’s gold mine in Nunavut, the camps take on a more permanent nature over the course of a mine’s life with full kitchens, laundry facilities, office space and recreation complexes.
But even the soft-walled small camps can have a few creature comforts with hot and cold running water, bed and night table, and a dry room for hanging wet gear.
"Tent camps can be amazingly comfortable," said Bradley.
Outland opened a Thunder Bay office in 1993 which now has a coverage area of all of Northern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and Nunavut.
Some of their clients include major forestry companies like Domtar, Tembec, Abitibi-Bowater, Weyerhaeuser and the Buchanan Group.
Lately, mineral exploration juniors such as Coventry Resources, Amador Gold and Premier Gold frequently turn to Outland to set up their exploration and drill camps.
"We’re probably doing more business in the entire company on the camps and catering (side) than we are in forestry," said Bradley.
The list of projects is diversified with set-ups for hydro-electric installations, wind farms and remote construction camps. The company has a long-standing relationship with the Ontario and Alberta governments providing fire crews, mechanical services and base camps.
Besides Thunder Bay, the Toronto-headquartered company has offices in Matheson; Amos, Que.; Swan River, Man. and Edmonton, Alta.
The Outland group of companies includes the original reforestation outfit and a vegetation management spinoff which performs brush-clearing for hydro lines, pipelines, road-building projects and various right-of-ways.
Bradley, who graduated with university degrees in business and the arts, was an alpine ski coach who got into Outland’s reforestation business during the off-season.
Eventually, the demands of the jobs became so big, he came aboard on a full-time.
As part of an employee-owned company, he has a personal stake in its well-being.
"You live it, breathe it and worry about it a lot."
When Outland Camps take to the field, they rely on a contractor force of as many as 3,500 cooks, carpenters, electricians, plumbers and journeyman labourers during peak periods.
Because of the economic slowdown and the struggles in forestry, that workforce has been reduced to about 1,000, but it remains a growing and exciting business.
"When you look at the scope and scale of opportunities in the camp and catering side, there are some massive companies involved," said Bradley. "The average person has no idea but it’s a huge business out there."
When hiring people, Bradley rhymes off a list of qualities befitting the military such as being resourceful, self-motivated, determined, safety-conscious, and following policy and procedure by the book.
"We have so many workers doing different things and who deal with a certain amount of adversity. You have to be super-flexible in whatever circumstance presents itself.
"The biggest thing we look for is that person that can dig in and stay focused through exceptional conditions for long periods of time. That’s the heart of the company. We bring that work ethic through our hierarchy at every level."
The company is always in need of experienced bush hands as the economy shows signs of heating up. "When we had a slowdown, we tend to lose people, so we’re in a bit of a rebuild right now."
A prime focus for Bradley is building capacity with Aboriginal people, especially young people.
Started 10 years ago out of the Thunder Bay office, their successful Ranger skill training program involved 68 Aboriginal youth last year. It’s expanded into northern Manitoba, British Columbia and Nunavut.
Through partnerships with Confederation College, First Nations and their resource industry clients, the plan is to teach young people basic employment skills and eventually produce an Aboriginal workforce with skills and leadership abilities.
www.outlandcamps.ca
www.outland.ca
