The presidents of Cambrian, Confederation College in Thunder Bay and Northern College in Timmins signed a  transfer agreement via a video conference recently to promote  the transferability of mining credits earned at each institution.
The  agreement will provide greater opportunities for students to prepare for careers in the growing minerals industry, stated a Cambrian College news release.
According to the presidents, the agreement is designed to provide maximum educational opportunities for students and to address the minerals industry's demand for skilled workers.
"With the current levels of mining activity we are enjoying in Ontario, it is essential that we have a qualified workforce to supply the industry with the talent it needs," said Michael Gravelle, minister of Northern Development and Mines. "This agreement will help to ensure that the mining industry will have access to that workforce now and into the future."
With the agreement, graduates of the three colleges will receive full recognition of prior credit from a partner college. Graduates of Confederation's new one-year mining certificate program, beginning this September, will be eligible to transfer into the second year of the mining engineering technician programs at Northern and Cambrian. Graduates of the two-year mining engineering technician program at Northern College will be eligible to transfer to the three-year mining engineering technology program at Cambrian.
"This agreement builds on the strengths of the three northern colleges that deliver education for the minerals industry," said Cambrian College president Sylvia Barnard. "By collaborating on an education continuum, we are ensuring broader access to a career in this vital industry."
"The ability to transfer learned skills to another level of education provides students with the opportunity to pursue their personal career choices," said Confederation College president Patricia Lang in the news release. "Confederation College is proud to be a part of a significant initiative providing our collective learners with quality education, including the establishment of our new mining techniques program."
"Colleges in the north know that collaboration is key to helping our communities prosper," said Northern College president Michael Hill. "Northern College is pleased to share the expertise of the Haileybury School of Mines and looks forward to establishing even more pathways to even more programs offered by our sister colleges."
