Whether it's potash, oil, uranium or forest products, Saskatchewan is rich in a variety of natural resources, which is moving our province into the forefront of economic growth and development. At the centre of that growth is Saskatchewan's mining industry. In 2011, the estimated value of Saskatchewan's mineral production was approximately $9.2 billion, making the province's mining industry the second largest in Canada in terms of value of mineral sales.
With the increased economic and industrial growth that has taken place in the province comes an increased need for a strong and sustainable workforce. A recent report from the Saskatchewan Mining Association (SMA) and the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) indicates that, with the rapid growth in mining and Saskatchewan's low population, we are looking at a hiring gap. This means that the number of new job applicants will not meet the demand for the number of job vacancies. Assuming the mining sector attracts the status quo of available entrants into key occupations, the industry is expected to attract only 5,700 new entrants to the labour pool to meet a need of 8,510 by 2021 leaving a large hiring gap of key occupations.
Northern Careers Quest - recruitment and retention
So, does this labour situation create a dilemma or an opportunity?
Steve Innes, CEO of Northern Career Quest saw an opportunity. With support from Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) and Human Resource and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) the Northern Career Quest was able to set a strong mandate to commit to 672 new jobs for Northern people.
"The great partnerships we had established assisted in the approval process," said Innes.
The combined partnerships resulted in up to $18 million in monetary and in-kind support for this three year program.
The results of the hard work of the partners and the Northern Career Quest resulted in three very successful years. According to Innes, the focus was very task-oriented with a real hands-on approach involving industry people in the selection process. "People from various aspects of the industry would go through the top 40 applicants and choose 12 to take the program," added Innes.
From there the applicants experienced a very hard-core style of training. "We encouraged the applicants to treat the program as though it were a job," explained Innes, "training allowance was paid at the end of the month, not the beginning as is typical and was based on attendance." If the applicant missed a day of training he/she was not paid for it. Innes said that it may sound a little extreme but it assisted in determining the success of the trainees.
Because of the high demand for skilled employees, close to every course had guaranteed jobs available at the end of the program. This assisted in creating a strong incentive for the participants. "In the end, most courses had a 100 per cent success rate," said Innes. He said that as of June 30, 2012, this three-year program will have created 1,450 jobs.
With such an incredible success rate, the focus for the Northern Careers Quest is now turning to retention. "Now that we have the people in the jobs, we are asking ourselves, 'how we can help trainees develop their skills further?' This will open the entry-level positions for new trainees," said Innes.
Innes attributes the success of the Northern Careers Quest to the great staff and strong support from Cameco, dedicated board members and the tribal councils. Although the program will be completed on June 30, new proposals are being brought forward to continue the move the program.
The Saskatoon Tribal Council - building partnerships for the future
The Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) represents seven First Nations members: Kinistin, Mistawasis, Muskeg Lake, Muskoday, One Arrow, Whitecap Dakota and Yellow Quill.
Dennis Esperance, STC's potash relations manager, attributes the success of the STC to Chief Felix Thomas for his strong vision and initiative. With his vision and support, the STC was able to develop a strategy to assist in meeting the demands for Aboriginal workers in the potash industry.
"We (STC) had a goal to increase the level of First Nations participation in the potash industry. We marketed and promoted the Saskatoon Tribal Council as a viable partner in potash, knowing that we needed to establish long term and sustainable relationships with the Potash Industry," explained Esperance. "Once the goal was established the next question was, 'how do we accomplish this?' So we determined that we needed to source Potash Industry participants who share this common goal.
With four out of five PotashCorp mines located within an hour of Saskatoon, it made sense that we approach PotashCorp to be a potential partner."
STC set up meetings with PotashCorp's president (Potash) and vice presidents to begin the process of discussing a potential relationship/partnership. The successful experience of formalizing partnerships in the Education sector by STC provided a strong base of the capacity STC could bring to the potash industry as a stakeholder.
After many meetings and deliberation, it was agreed to formalize a partnership. A Pipe Ceremony was held at STC to signify the new partnership and celebrate a new historic relationship. A formal signing of the agreement between STC Tribal Chief Thomas and PotashCorp president (Potash) Garth Moore was held at the STC fall Legislative Assembly and was witnessed by the seven STC member First Nations Chiefs/Councils.
As a result of the STC/PCS partnership, STC is now able to assist with recruitment and short-listing and is involved in the first level of interviews - a process that is out of the norm for PCS HR.
"We do not use employment equity or quotas; Aboriginal applicants are hired based on their own merit and credentials," said Esperance.
Esperance added that being part of the process from recruitment to hiring allows for more successful Aboriginal applicants with PotashCorp, and better opportunities for Aboriginal people. The next step is to be able to bring more Aboriginal contractors to the industry as well.
As the steps have been taken to establish a strong relationship with PotashCorp, Esperance shared that STC would like to establish similar relationships with Mosaic, Agrium, BHP and K+S down the road.
Communication has been the key to sustaining a strong partnership, according to Esperance. Maintaining continuous dialogue with PCS's director of Aboriginal Strategy, Leanne Bellegarde, is very important.
Although there are challenges ahead in the mining industry for attracting and retaining a strong workforce, the partnerships that STC is forming with the potash mining companies will enable First Nations people to be contributors to the Saskatchewan economy and bring prosperity to the province and First Nations communities
I thought we only had wheat? What happened?
With the increased economic and industrial growth that has taken place in the province comes an increased need for a strong and sustainable workforce. A recent report from the Saskatchewan Mining Association (SMA) and the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) indicates that, with the rapid growth in mining and Saskatchewan's low population, we are looking at a hiring gap. This means that the number of new job applicants will not meet the demand for the number of job vacancies. Assuming the mining sector attracts the status quo of available entrants into key occupations, the industry is expected to attract only 5,700 new entrants to the labour pool to meet a need of 8,510 by 2021 leaving a large hiring gap of key occupations.
Northern Careers Quest - recruitment and retention
So, does this labour situation create a dilemma or an opportunity?
Steve Innes, CEO of Northern Career Quest saw an opportunity. With support from Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) and Human Resource and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) the Northern Career Quest was able to set a strong mandate to commit to 672 new jobs for Northern people.
"The great partnerships we had established assisted in the approval process," said Innes.
The combined partnerships resulted in up to $18 million in monetary and in-kind support for this three year program.
The results of the hard work of the partners and the Northern Career Quest resulted in three very successful years. According to Innes, the focus was very task-oriented with a real hands-on approach involving industry people in the selection process. "People from various aspects of the industry would go through the top 40 applicants and choose 12 to take the program," added Innes.
From there the applicants experienced a very hard-core style of training. "We encouraged the applicants to treat the program as though it were a job," explained Innes, "training allowance was paid at the end of the month, not the beginning as is typical and was based on attendance." If the applicant missed a day of training he/she was not paid for it. Innes said that it may sound a little extreme but it assisted in determining the success of the trainees.
Because of the high demand for skilled employees, close to every course had guaranteed jobs available at the end of the program. This assisted in creating a strong incentive for the participants. "In the end, most courses had a 100 per cent success rate," said Innes. He said that as of June 30, 2012, this three-year program will have created 1,450 jobs.
With such an incredible success rate, the focus for the Northern Careers Quest is now turning to retention. "Now that we have the people in the jobs, we are asking ourselves, 'how we can help trainees develop their skills further?' This will open the entry-level positions for new trainees," said Innes.
Innes attributes the success of the Northern Careers Quest to the great staff and strong support from Cameco, dedicated board members and the tribal councils. Although the program will be completed on June 30, new proposals are being brought forward to continue the move the program.
The Saskatoon Tribal Council - building partnerships for the future
The Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) represents seven First Nations members: Kinistin, Mistawasis, Muskeg Lake, Muskoday, One Arrow, Whitecap Dakota and Yellow Quill.
Dennis Esperance, STC's potash relations manager, attributes the success of the STC to Chief Felix Thomas for his strong vision and initiative. With his vision and support, the STC was able to develop a strategy to assist in meeting the demands for Aboriginal workers in the potash industry.
"We (STC) had a goal to increase the level of First Nations participation in the potash industry. We marketed and promoted the Saskatoon Tribal Council as a viable partner in potash, knowing that we needed to establish long term and sustainable relationships with the Potash Industry," explained Esperance. "Once the goal was established the next question was, 'how do we accomplish this?' So we determined that we needed to source Potash Industry participants who share this common goal.
With four out of five PotashCorp mines located within an hour of Saskatoon, it made sense that we approach PotashCorp to be a potential partner."
STC set up meetings with PotashCorp's president (Potash) and vice presidents to begin the process of discussing a potential relationship/partnership. The successful experience of formalizing partnerships in the Education sector by STC provided a strong base of the capacity STC could bring to the potash industry as a stakeholder.
After many meetings and deliberation, it was agreed to formalize a partnership. A Pipe Ceremony was held at STC to signify the new partnership and celebrate a new historic relationship. A formal signing of the agreement between STC Tribal Chief Thomas and PotashCorp president (Potash) Garth Moore was held at the STC fall Legislative Assembly and was witnessed by the seven STC member First Nations Chiefs/Councils.
As a result of the STC/PCS partnership, STC is now able to assist with recruitment and short-listing and is involved in the first level of interviews - a process that is out of the norm for PCS HR.
"We do not use employment equity or quotas; Aboriginal applicants are hired based on their own merit and credentials," said Esperance.
Esperance added that being part of the process from recruitment to hiring allows for more successful Aboriginal applicants with PotashCorp, and better opportunities for Aboriginal people. The next step is to be able to bring more Aboriginal contractors to the industry as well.
As the steps have been taken to establish a strong relationship with PotashCorp, Esperance shared that STC would like to establish similar relationships with Mosaic, Agrium, BHP and K+S down the road.
Communication has been the key to sustaining a strong partnership, according to Esperance. Maintaining continuous dialogue with PCS's director of Aboriginal Strategy, Leanne Bellegarde, is very important.
Although there are challenges ahead in the mining industry for attracting and retaining a strong workforce, the partnerships that STC is forming with the potash mining companies will enable First Nations people to be contributors to the Saskatchewan economy and bring prosperity to the province and First Nations communities
I thought we only had wheat? What happened?
