Group trains Aboriginal mine workers

Sharon McLeod heard that the mining industry was hiring and mining jobs typically paid good wages.

"I had worked around heavy equipment and I was working with the local school district, but I couldn't make ends meet," recalled the single mother of two sons. "I thought that my previous experience in the mining industry and in the school district would help, so I applied to the mine. I never got a response."

McLeod, 49, then heard about a group focused on helping Aboriginal people get jobs in the mining industry. As a member of the Duncan's First Nation, an Aboriginal band descended from the Cree and Beaver tribes of eastern British Columbia and western Alberta, she felt that she might eligible for one of the group's training programs, and because of her previous experience, she thought she had a good shot at getting a job.

McLeod couldn't even imagine what happened next.

Not only did the British Columbia Aboriginal Mine Training Association respond promptly to her job inquiry, the organization provided her with necessary training and hired her as a program coach in Kamloops, B.C. on the day she graduated.

"My job is similar to what I did in the school district. It's just working with adults, aboriginal people," McLeod said. "It's been a rewarding job. The first time I left the BC AMTA office, I had this full feeling inside. I can't tell you how important that is."

Today, McLeod and other members of a small staff work with Aboriginal candidates for mining jobs, helping them build essential skills so they can compete with others in the work place.

"The way this system works, it's paid off," she said. "We help them with interview skills, resume development, and things like that.

"When you've had a 45-year-old person come in who never had the opportunity to go past the 8th grade and when you help that person build those essential skills so they can compete for those jobs in the mining industry, you get a wonderful feeling," said McLeod. "You feel like you're making a difference. I understand the barriers that Aboriginal people face in getting an education and the training they need to compete and be successful.

"In some areas, when we recruit, some candidates need to travel a long way from home. That can be a challenge, bringing people from more remote areas to do the training, especially single parents with small children."

But when the training is completed and the candidates return home with well-paying mining jobs, McLeod said they are so happy that they made the sacrifice.

"They tell us that it has changed their lives. They are able to buy homes and cars, and for the first time in their lives to take their grandchildren on vacation, to Disney World," she added.

Public-private partnership

Launched 2 1/2 years ago by the Association of Mineral Exploration BC, the Mining Association of BC, First Nations and some of British Columbia's top mining companies, the BC AMTA focuses on improving aboriginal employment in the province and finding long-term workers for the province's next major mines.

At startup, the association received C$4.4 million in funding from the federal government, as well as cash, equipment and land from associations and companies to get started. At least two members of the industry groups' boards of directors also provide guidance as members of the BC AMTA's advisory board.

The organization's track record, so far, suggests that its funding has been well spent. In just under two years, 231 aboriginal people have found work at good-paying mining jobs after graduating from BC AMTA programs.

Some 63 percent of the BC AMTA's graduates transitioned from unemployment, and so far, 98 percent of the candidates accepted into one of the association's programs have seen it through.

The association estimates that its placed candidates together earn more than C$11.7 million in annual wages and benefits, which reflects a remarkable return on investment.

"Right now, our average cost is just under C$22,000 per person," said BC AMTA Executive Director Laurie Sterritt.

The BC AMTA has been instrumental in linking the mining industry's demands for trained workers in British Columbia with First Nations' employment needs in what is widely acknowledged as an ongoing and necessary connection between industry and British Columbia's aboriginal people.

The association's success is particularly impressive when one considers that the need for its services is so great.

"There is some sense that the public education system has failed the First Nations people," said Sterritt.

Today, more than 300 mineral exploration projects are under way in British Columbia, along with 20 major operating mines and more than 30 new aggregate mines. Mining is so pervasive across the province that chances are there is a mineral exploration project or mine close to virtually every B.C. community.

Mining is also the highest paying and one of the fastest-growing industries in the province. The average salary in the B.C. mining and minerals exploration sector was C$101,900 in 2007, including benefits. (That's latest year for which figures are available.)

An estimated 92,000 new workers will be needed in British Columbia to meet current and future industry needs across Canada during the next decade. British Columbia, alone, needs an estimated 15,000 additional workers over this same period, with an estimated 7,500 new job openings expected through to 2012.

Sterritt said the BC AMTA, which recruits, trains and places candidates in entry-level positions as well as occupation-specific jobs, have attracted about 900 workers from more than 120 of the 220 First Nations across the province. The association also boasts 30 candidates from First Nations located in other Canadian jurisdictions.

"With more than 900 candidates registered for training, we know we could do more if we could expand the program to more regions across the province. Some people can't travel because they have kids at home," she said. "We've got an expansion plan to have a physical operation in all four regions of BC. To be more efficient, we want to be more local within the regions."

Funding quandary

Expansion and even continuation of its existing programs, however, will require new funding.

BC AMTA officials say they will need at least C$2.5 million more per year in funding to continue offering their programs, and another C$2 million per year on top of that if the group hopes to expand beyond the Interior and Nechako regions of British Columbia.

"Our ability to deliver results is in jeopardy, and we may be forced to terminate programming as of March 31, 2012," Sterritt told Mining News in a Feb. 6 interview.

Though it was mainly funded by the federal government initially, Sterritt said the BC AMTA since has established partnerships with a number of companies with a 50-50 public-private match for funding.

Seabridge Gold Inc., for example, announced a contribution of C$100,000 Jan. 26 to the BC AMTA to help fund the delivery of an essential skills upgrading program in three Aboriginal communities in northwestern British Columbia. Seabridge presented a check to the association at a reception held at the 2012 Mineral Exploration Roundup conference in Vancouver, BC.

"Responsible mine development is about finding ways to ensure that the benefits of mining are shared, and that includes hiring locally and supporting economic development in regions where projects are based," said Jay Layman, Seabridge's executive vice president and chief operating officer. "Our contribution to BC AMTA's Pathways to Success program was the right decision for us to make."

The Pathways to Success program provides Aboriginal candidates access to learning tools and resources to enhance their overall employability. P2S incorporates workplace-based training, job readiness and skills enhancement, with a focus on helping students to develop literacy skills (including reading, writing and numeracy) so that they can attain the necessary prerequisites for occupational training.

Seabridge's contribution will support the delivery of three, 10-person PS2 training programs in the Gitanyow, Gitxsan and Tahltan communities.

"With so much development underway in northwestern BC, it's already becoming a challenge for exploration and mining projects to find the people they need for their BC projects," said Sterritt. "Seabridge's contribution clearly demonstrates they understand that work force capacity development in Aboriginal communities is a way to deliver business results. We hope other companies recognize the importance of investing in educational programs like this, not only to benefit their financial bottom lines, but to create measurable impacts in the communities where they wish to operate."

Sterritt said the association is currently in discussions with a number of other organizations about potential new funding source. But one question that the organizations are asking is whether the BC AMTA will have enough funding to continue its operations, she said. "There is some hesitancy to commit. It's a real Catch-22."

Effective programs

Part of the BC AMTA's strength is the flexibility of its programs.

"If we know a company has a need for 25 tradespeople over the next two years, we know it's in everybody's best interest to offer training and apprenticeships. We can cost out and build a budget for specific need," Sterritt said. "Just by doing a targeted program, we increased the participation rate to a level never anticipated."

Sterritt cited as an example the underground mine trainer program that BC AMTA built with New Gold Inc. for its New Afton gold and copper mine near Kamloops, is one of several programs developed using the common core trainer program in Ontario as a base and building it up with additional features.

"We did the first cohort with 15 students, and it went so well that we're now on our eighth cohort," Sterritt said.

New Afton's employee count has climbed to 350 workers from 50 2 1/2 years ago. Today, BC AMTA program graduates comprise 21 percent of the mine's work force.

"I see BC AMTA as an extension of the HR department here, they really helped source great candidates," Ann Wallin, New Afton's human resources manager, told a reporter recently.

In northern British Columbia, the association turned its outreach effort to mining-related industries when its original mine partners failed to obtain operating permits in 2010. BC AMTA partnered with Alta Gas to build a hydroelectric project and the Tahltan First Nation in training local residents, matching their skill levels and interests with job opportunities.

Sterritt said members of her staff share office space in Dease Lake with BCHydro, which is currently conducting boot camps as it prepares to build the new 344-kilometer (214 miles), 287-kilovolt Northwest Transmission Line from Skeena Substation (near Terrace) to a new substation to be built near Bob Quinn Lake.

"We would look at their pool of candidates for the higher achievers and more motivated individuals, and we would hope to assist them with our Pathways of Support Program," Sterritt said.

In addition to pre-training, essential skills and life motivations, the Association would build individual plans with each candidate that ensures a high retention (95 percent) rate in placed candidates.

"That's relatively unheard of in world of Aboriginal training and employment," said Sterritt.

She attributes the results, in part, to the dedication of her staff of nine who each routinely carry out the tasks of two or three people. "These people are passionate and willing to go the extra miles to get the results we've achieved. It's taken some real energy," said Sterritt.

Most program candidates are trained for jobs in underground mining, human resource management, entrepreneurship, environmental monitoring, culinary arts, parts and warehousing and electrical instrumentation.

"We can do individual training as well," Sterritt said. "One person might want to be the handy laborer on the team, and the next person might want to be CEO of the company. Our BC AMTA team can help the candidate see the possibilities and get there."

The association also maintains strong ties with institutions of higher learning such as the School of Exploration and Mining at British Columbia's Northwest Community College.

"We are a very flexible organization. We figure out what's the best route to take and make it happen. We actually create opportunity and make things happen," Sterritt explained. "We're like a car just waiting to be filled with gas."