Old school, new school: Thinking of heading back to the classroom?

With the New Year in full swing, for those looking to reboot their lives by studying for something different, finishing high school to be able to start fulfilling a career dream or just pursuing an academic interest that has long intrigued you, there is no better time than the present to live the dream.

With Eeyou Istchee’s rapidly expanding population and a booming market for natural-resource development, there is a need for manpower in various sectors. Fortunately for Crees, there are many programs available to help people access to well-paying jobs and fulfilling careers.

When it comes to choosing a new field of study many worry that they may not be cut out for the kind of work they may be contemplating. But the opportunities to learn are available. Not only are there numerous programs to prepare you to study what you want, other programs geared at supporting you throughout your academic journey.

For those wanting to stay close to home, there are various programs offered locally, depending on the local job market such as mining related studies in the communities close to mines. There are also special tailored programs being offered to Crees in places such as Chibougamau and Val d’Or that will lead to fulfilling lifetime careers.

Those looking to delve deeper into academic life outside of the north, appealing courses throughout Quebec and Ontario could be attractive to Crees, depending on where their interests lie. These include everything from Indigenous Studies programs to Police Technology or new and innovative programming geared at graduating new Aboriginal engineers.

So, if you’re getting ready to take the plunge or just want to shop around for a new future, read on and dream on. There has never been a better time to make that first step.

For those who want to go the vocational route and are looking for something within the Cree communities, the Cree School Board (CSB) has a wide variety of programs available to you as well as upgrading courses (available to those who are 16 and over) to help you acquire credits to get into these programs.

Whether you’re looking for a course that will help you capitalize on the natural-resource development happening within Eeyou Istchee, a trade that will give you gainful employment in the construction boom in your own community or professional training that will help you care for other Crees who need a helping hand at home, the CSB has something to offer you.

While their planning for the entire year has yet to be completed, the CSB was able to provide a short list of the programs that will be starting over the coming months, followed by some course information about each program.

If there is a program that you are interested in that is not mentioned below, do not worry, a new cohort for your desired program may be opening up in the near future and a list of all of the programs that are available through Sabtuan (without a current start date) has been provided.

Accounting, starts early February

Northern Heavy Equipment Operations, starts May

Northern Building Maintenance, starts early March

Carpentry, starts early March

Home Care Assistance, starts early March

Carpentry, starts early March

Plastering, starting early March

Timber Harvesting and Wood Processing, starting mid-February

Food and Beverage Services, starting March,

Home Care Assistance, TBA

School Daycare Educator, starts March

Surveying and Topography, starts March

This 1350-hour program is ideal for those who would like to learn basic accounting skills, such as calculation and preparation of bills, invoices, receipts, payments for a business. The program also features instruction on how to manage petty cash, produce payrolls, price calculation, accounting tasks and fiscal-year-end activities, income-tax-form preparation and accounting systems.

This program is for anyone looking to do basic accounting in business or as a first step to prepare for higher learning in accounting and is available in various communities.

This 900-hour course is about teaching you how to use the bulk of heavy equipment on a construction site with the exception of crane operation. The course covers basic principles of infrastructure construction, mastery of equipment operation, equipment maintenance and the general knowledge and application of safety regulations for these types of equipment.

This 1320-hour course teaches students everything they need to know in order to be able to maintain buildings in northern communities. It is a general course that is taught in a classroom and also in real-life situations where students learn how to fix a wide variety of building-related problems, including basic plumbing and heating systems.

Carpentry is about working with wood so a graduate of this program would be constructing, erecting, maintaining and repairing wood structures, wood substitutes and other materials. This 1350-hour program is geared towards ensuring that its graduates can perform at an acceptable level of output. The kinds of tasks it will enable graduates to do include: concrete forms, wood frames and steel bulkheads, projects that involve making joints, assembly work, erecting and repairing wood and metal parts, applying interior and exterior finishes and landscaping projects.

This is a 975-hour program that is ideal for those wanting to help the sick and infirm within their communities, this home-care assistance program is about learning the proper training to provide basic care and services for those in need. Students will learn how to assist their clients to carry out basic everyday activities and help them organize their living environment while ensuring their safety and how to intervene in a crisis or emergency situation.

Students also learn to help clients integrate and socialize in individual or community activities. All of these tasks require establishing a relationship of trust with clients and those close to them. Home-care attendants receive training in providing care and services in the home. They help vulnerable or at-risk clientele carry out everyday domestic activities, like preparing meals. They also advise clients on their lifestyle habits and provide parenting support, if applicable.

The goal is to meet the general needs of clients, to help them compensate for their disabilities, to maintain and promote their autonomy, to accompany and support them in their daily and domestic lives, while taking into account any family or social problems that could interfere

Brand new to the Cree communities, this 810-hour program is designed to teach industry-standard skills to those who would like to become professional plasterers. Students learn how to use a trowel or a machine, how to do calcareous plaster work on different surfaces, how to run metal moldings; how to pull joints on gypsum sheets, how to do stucco work, how to run plaster moldings, and how to apply precast ornamental plaster work.

This 840-hour program is perfect for those interested in working in the forestry industry as logging machinery operators. Included in this course is a mastery of oxygen-cutting, welding and soldering techniques, maintenance and repair of equipment, mastery of driving of the self-loading forwarder, single-grip harvester and track harvester, knowledge and application of safety techniques and first aid pertinent to this field.

This 960-hour course is geared towards those looking to work, serving the food made in a professional kitchen, how to work with menus and how to set proper tables. The course is ideal for those looking for a quick start in the culinary arts or for someone who would like to get work serving the hungry workers at the new construction and mining camps.

This 390-hour course is for those looking to work with Eeyou Istchee’s youngest members. Students will learn how to organize, prepare and conduct a variety of activities within a daycare centre that are geared at early childhood learning in a safe environment. Child development and child well-being instruction will play a large role in this course as will learning how to handle groups of small children.

With all of the development happening in and around the communities, the demand for those who can survey the land has increased. That is why this 1800-hour program has been specially developed for Crees and its graduates will easily be able to find work. Those in this program will learn how to master typical surveying instruments to gather topographic data, how to specify and mathematically transform technical data, how to graphically portray surveys on a drafting table or computer, how to stake out a lot and lay out a building as well as all of the necessary information and applications of safety in this industry.

For more info: www.csbsaes.ca/en/vocational-programs

There are some special programs available in Chibougamau that may be your ticket to a new exciting profession.

Carefully designed to meet the needs of the Cree job market and of Cree students, the CSB has worked diligently with Quebec and the Cégep de Saint-Félicien to offer the following programs in English at the Centre d’études collégiales à Chibougamau.

Here’s some information about each program. Please communicate with the Cégep de St-Félicien directly for more information about start times and new cohorts.

The registered nursing program offered exclusively at St-Félicien is set up with your success in mind.

Launched in 2008, this program is a special collaboration between Cree Human Resources Development, Cree School Board, Cree Health Board and Emploi-Québec meet the need for 100 new nurses in Eeyou Istchee.

Not only is this the only English-language nursing program available within James Bay, it’s the same program usually offered in a three-year program by L’Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec that is stretched out over four years to accommodate the needs of the Cree people.

Not only is there time off for cultural events like Goose Break, the lighter schedule helps students with children to manage school and family life.

With the rapid development of the natural resources market within Eeyou Istchee, the Natural Environment Technology program offered by Cégep de St-Félicien at the Centre d’études collégiales à Chibougamau in collaboration with Niskamoon is for those who want to ensure that the development is designed with Cree values in mind.

Students in this program will learn about environmental development, wildlife protection and conservation to lead to careers in environment, forestry, wildlife management and ecotourism.

This exciting program will first focus on classroom theory but also offer practical on-the-job training in various settings throughout Chibougamau and the Eastmain-1-A–Sarcelle–Rupert hydroelectric project site. It’s a three-year, 2700-hour course that was made possible by the Niskamoon Corporation, Cree Human Resources Department, Cree School Board and Hydro-Quebec.

For more info: www.cstfelicien.qc.ca

Developed by ECO Canada (Environmental Careers Organization), the Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources (BEAHR) training program aims to build awareness about environmental careers while increasing environmental capacity within communities. It is designed to provide introductory skills to those who want to work in the environmental field while employing Aboriginal culture and knowledge.

The program is offered in two separate streams: workforce training and technician training. Both are designed to provide graduates with the essential skills required to work at the assistant level in a career related to the environmental sector.

For more info on BEAHR programs: www.eco.ca/beahr

Since the Cree population is growing rapidly, for those interested in early childhood development, Cégep de St-Félicien offers the Special Needs Educator Profession for Aboriginal and Inuit Children program. Students will learn everything from early childhood development to the ethical and legal aspects of this line of work. There is also a special focus on the assessment of needs for special-needs children as well as the actual assessment of these children and other practical aspects of working with special-needs children, such as intervention techniques, plans and processes.

For more info: www.seccol.com/

For several years now the Niskamoon Corporation has had a special mandate to ensure that Hydro-Québec hires a minimum of 150 qualified Cree employees by 2017 as outlined in the 2002 Apatisiwin Agreement (Paix des Braves) between the Crees and Hydro-Québec.

In doing so, Niskamoon has helped deliver the following programs:

Two (2) Vocational Programs (DEP)

• Automated Systems Electro-Mechanics (DEP 5281)

• Industrial Construction and Maintenance Mechanics (DEP 5260)

Two (2) Technical Programs (DEC)

• Industrial Electronics in Instrumentation and Automation (DEC 243.06)

• Electronics Technology in Telecommunications/Computers (DEC 243.11)

And, the following two programs have also been added through Niskamoon:

A Civil Engineering Professional DEC that is available through the Cégep de l’Abitibi-Temiscamingue and the aforementioned Natural Environment Technology professional program that is being offered through the Cégep de St-Félicien in Chibougamau.

Because these programs have been developed and adapted for Crees, they all feature the following benefits as part of the program structure to help ensure student success rates:

a) Monthly incentive

b) Successful semester incentives

c) Cree cultural leave

d) Student activity funds

e) Summer student employment

f) Summer student equivalent sponsorship

g) Improved fluency of the French language

Graduation from these programs leads to guaranteed employment with Hydro-Québec.

For more info: www.niskamoon.org

Despite Val d’Or’s reputation as “Sin City,” the North’s largest urban centre has a bustling academic scene with a wide variety of courses available to Crees and other First Nations students.

For those looking to test the waters of academia and wanting to study in an urban environment while brushing up on their credentials to get into the right academic program, the Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue offers an Access to College program as an ideal starting point.

Available in its daytime and continuing education programs, students have access to the First Nations Student Services (FNSS) department to strengthen their studying skills and get help to transition on other levels.

For more info: www.cegepat.qc.ca

With the Aboriginal population of Val d’Or steadily climbing, it should come as no surprise that the certificate programs for Aboriginals available through the l’Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) is also expanding. UQAT has a reputation for including Aboriginal perspectives and making room for Aboriginal realities, while providing First Nations students the opportunity to take just about any program they so desire.

The following list of programs, micro-programs and certificates were developed specifically with First Nations in mind. For those wanting to learn more about the history and lives of Aboriginal peoples, UQAT offers an Aboriginal Studies Certificate.

The perfect thing for someone looking to work promoting the beauty of the land and showing it off to the rest of the world through tourism, UQAT now offers a special undergraduate short program in Aboriginal Tourism Management.

For the person who feels more akin to the structure of administrative careers, the university is currently offering the following as micro-programs and certificates: Human Resource Management, Administration, Accounting and a certificate in Management and Regional Development.

And, for those individuals who are feeling ambitious about their administrative careers and want to be head honchos one day, UQAT offers a new Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) for First Peoples students.

For those looking to get their feet wet in the world of education, UQAT is now offering the Certificate in Primary Education for Substitute Teachers, designed to give you the basics on how to manage a classroom and fill in for a missing teacher.

And, for those who want to teach, there is also the Bachelor Degree in Preschool Education and Primary Teaching.

For budding artists who want to learn about art in a First Nations cultural context, UQAT offers a fabulous Certificate in Studio Arts that could add dimensions to an artist’s perspective and output.

For the person who wants to ensure that the welfare of society’s most vulnerable are cared for through social services, UQAT offers a special Bachelor of Social Work that is specifically intended for First People’s students.

And, for the creative types who want to become digital artists, UQAT offers a Certificate in Interactive Media and a Certificate in Digital Creation that covers everything from web design to app design to graphic design.

For more info: www.uqat.ca

Post-secondary education options

Quebec

Ontario 

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