Mining industry trying to address skills shortage

“We are looking for a geologist to help with our exploration program, but we cannot find anyone.” These words come from a manager of a junior exploration company, and by all appearances this situation is far from unique. What are the reasons for the skills shortage, and what is the industry doing to rectify the situation?

Speaking from the annual conference of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) in Edmonton, Ryan Montpellier, executive director of the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), says that the industry is facing serious human resource issues. He says that there is a projected shortfall of 92,000 workers in the mining industry over the decade from 2007 to 2016. The shortage manifests itself throughout the occupational spectrum: labourers, skilled underground miners, electricians, mechanics, geologists, mining engineers: you name it, there are vacancies in all of these occupations.

The industry is growing, so more people are needed. Whereas employment in the mining industry stood at 143,000 in 2007, the industry is projected to have 170,000 positions in 2016. Furthermore, the existing workforce is aging, and there will be a wave of retirements. Montpellier says that as many as 40% of employees in the mining industry have expressed an intention to retire within the next decade (although not all of these will necessarily decide to retire as planned).

The industry receives less than its fair share of immigrants. “The mining industry has not benefited from the immigration system in the last few decades”, says Montpellier. There are a number of reasons for this. One reason is the difficulty in the accreditation of foreign qualifications. Sometimes this is justified, as in the case of a person who is considered an engineer in his country of origin, but who has the skill-set of a Canadian technician. However there are cases where credentials of fully-qualified immigrants are not recognized, and they end up driving the proverbial taxis, while mining-related positions remain unfilled. This happens because of a lack of a formal system of recognition of foreign credentials. On top of that, immigrants also seem to prefer to settle in the larger urban centres, far from mining districts.

There are other populations that are under-represented in the mining industry, such as women and aboriginals. Furthermore, youths who are choosing a career often decide that mining is not for them, owing to stereotypes of the industry as being unsexy and old-fashioned. “In our surveys of youths around the country, the mining industry usually ranks dead last in career choice”, says Montpellier.

As if this were not enough, those who do finally graduate with mining engineering, geophysics or geology qualifications are often lured overseas with lucrative job offers, foreign employers having recognized Canadian qualifications in these disciplines as being world-class.

How does the industry intend to address the skills shortfall? Montpellier says that this is exactly the mandate of the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, and he outlines a multi-pronged approach. Firstly, the industry is looking into recruiting workers from industries where employment is falling, such as the forestry, automotive and manufacturing sectors. Skilled workers from these industries, such as electricians, mechanics, technicians, technologists and engineers, can often be employed in mining with limited retraining.

The mining industry is trying to promote itself to youths by changing their perceptions, so that they perceive mining as a viable career choice. The industry is also promoting itself to other target groups such as aboriginals, women and new Canadians, who usually do not consider mining as a possible career. To address these under-represented groups, the MiHR has developed a campaign around the brand Explore for More, and is using the website ACareerInMining.ca to promote its message.

The industry would like to benefit more from skilled immigrants. However, Montpellier says that accreditation of foreign-qualified professionals is a difficult problem with no quick fixes. There are some hopeful signs: a number of professional accreditation bodies are trying to put in place formal accreditation programs for foreign-trained professionals.

Finally, Montpellier says that mining companies need to realize that everyone is looking for good people. “It’s a global competition for skilled labour,” he says. Local companies in other industries are also competing, for example, oilsands companies in Alberta have recruited mining engineers, so these engineers are no longer available to companies mining for metals.