TIMMINS – By next year, Northeastern Ontario will have a better understanding of mining labour force needs. The Far Northeast Training Board (FNETB) has contracted a consulting firm to research the labour force needs of mining operations, advanced exploration sites and mining supply companies.
Julie Joncas, executive director of FNETB, explained Monday that the information collected will help inform planning for training and employment initiatives so that people looking to enter the mining sector can acquire the skills they’d need.
The report will cover the entire districts of Cochrane and Timiskaming as well as the communities of Chapleau and Hornepayne. This will include communities on the James Bay Coast and past Kirkland Lake as far as the Quebec border.
“At the end of the day what we hope to have is information,” said Joncas to a room of partners gathered at The Bucket Shop. “We know that mining, industry, the mining sector and every sector of our economy needs to have access to a qualified workforce if they are to remain competitive and be able to continue to contribute our communities.”
She said several factors are impacting the industry’s ability to find qualified workers, including the out-migration of youth, the last wave of baby boomers headed for retirement and the cyclical nature of resource-based industries.
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