Ready the workforce
With mining projects popping up like dandelions all over Eeyou Istchee, so are training programs for the Cree in order to get as many into the workfore and reaping the benefits of these projects.
At the end of March, a group of executives from Goldcorp’s Éléonore Project near Wemindji met with 17 Crees graduating from an Iron-Ore Extraction program that was being held on-site at the Xstrata mine in Matagami. Their goal was to court the students for new jobs that will be available at the Éléonore Project.
According to Steven Wanamaker, a Regional Projects Consultant at the Cree School Board (CSB), at the moment there is so much interest in training for the mining jobs to come at various projects throughout Eeyou Istchee that for every course that opens up a new waiting list begins for it.
He proudly boasted that of the 18 Crees who had originally started in the Iron-Ore program, 17 had successfully completed it with only one student having to drop out due to health reasons. Considering the fact that usually within a group of 15 high-school students, often only 10 graduate, this particular group has done incredibly well.
Students in this particular program are now ready to work on-site as iron-ore extractors, a job that will see them perform multiple tasks deep underground.
“They drill holes – they are the ones who drill the tunnels. They also have to secure those tunnels to make sure that they don’t collapse and so there’s also cement and netting work involved.
“Of course, they remove and extract the ore which is the vital part of the job, and probably the dirtiest,” said Wanamaker.
This recent batch of graduates included two women and, despite the fact that the work is tough and may not be for everyone, Wanamaker said even a petite woman is capable of doing the work. To be an iron-ore extractor you don’t need big shoulders or have to be a strong male, you just need to be able to hold all of the equipment and process it.
As far as prerequisites for this program, applicants need to have a Level 3 education if they are coming out of high school. For adults who are already working and want to be retrained, the necessary requirement is to have at least a Level 2 in languages and math and be able to pass the General Development Test, which is a generalized science, math and languages test.
Considering the fact that there is going to be over 1,000 jobs in the mining sector within the next five years, there is training available for just about everyone at every skill level.
According to Wanamaker, those with a Secondary 4 education can train to be mill operators, take the truck-driving course or apply to the industrial and maintenance mechanic program.
There will also be work for those who don’t want to spend a lot of time training as Wanamaker is currently working with the CSB and Cree Human Resources Development (CHRD) to develop an “essential skills for mining program”. This will be for those who want to work in general maintenance as janitors, cooks, housekeepers and labourers in the mines as this kind of work does not require special skills.
“Our job at the CSB and CHRD is to put programs together to supply these skills to the Crees in the territory,” said Wanamaker.
To find out more, contact your local guidance counsellor or employment department.