Aboriginal youth targeted for mining careers

Cambrian College's Wabnode Centre for Aboriginal Services recently launched Earth Series, an initiative aimed at developing awareness of the many career opportunities in mining for aboriginal youth.

The career resource material, which was developed by Cambrian College with support from the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council (OMICC), FedNor, and the mining industry, provides both printed and web-based information on 85 careers.

Although the target audience is primarily aboriginal youth, Earth Series is a resource for all young people who are making decisions about directions to take in secondary and post-secondary school, stated a press release from the college.

The resource material will be used by the Wabnode Centre for Aboriginal Services and Cambrian College recruiters during school and community visits and at career and educational fairs.

It will also be distributed to First Nations communities, to industry, and to schools across the north. Earth Series contains detailed descriptions of a variety of careers in the industry, as well as careers that are related to the mining industry.

In developing Earth Series, the partners recognized the need for an innovative approach to attracting more aboriginal youth into the mining industry and the need to develop an on-going pool of skilled workers for northern Ontario.

“Cambrian College is pleased to collaborate with the federal and provincial governments on an initiative that will play a key role in supporting the economic development of the north and encouraging participation in an industry that will need over 11,000 new workers over the next decade,” Sylvia Barnard, president of Cambrian College, said in the press release.

“This is a project that has been in the making for over two years and one that has benefitted from extensive feedback from aboriginal youth, communities, and elders. It is these collaborative efforts that will enable us to better serve the needs of the largest population coming into the educational sector – a population that is growing nearly six times faster than non-aboriginal populations.”

For more information, visit www.mininginmind.ca.