Human Resources committee  Yes, I mentioned there were nine universities that offer mining engineering in Canada.

Human Resources committee  Saskatchewan figures in a major way in all of our work, in all of our research, for a number of reasons. As you said, they're global leaders in potash and uranium production, and there are also some very bright lights in terms of aboriginal inclusion. Cameco and COGEMA, in fact, were the subject of an in-depth case study that's now being promoted to the rest of the Canadian mining industry as an exemplary model.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely.

Human Resources committee  Thank you.

Human Resources committee  Certainly the mining sector in Ontario, Ontario being the province with the most mining activity of any across the country, is facing those shortages. The priority areas in our sector would be engineers, geoscientists, and tradespeople. Some segments of the manufacturing sector are experiencing a downturn, so again are looking to those to try to offset.

Human Resources committee  The degree of mobility varies by occupation. Professional occupations tend to be more mobile, with the exception of geoscientists, geophysicists, who are regulated provincially. They need to be licensed within that province to do work. A lot of the times, these contracts are a few days long to conduct their work, so they have to go through a process that costs hundreds of dollars and weeks, only to work for a few days.

Human Resources committee  The issue of older workers is a very important one in mining, because of the facts I gave you in my opening remarks. The term “older workers” in mining tends to include people who wouldn't otherwise be considered older workers, because we have people retiring between 50 and 55, after 30 years of service, who are not ready to retire completely.

Human Resources committee  Not that many. There's certainly a need, and employers are beginning to meet the need to be flexible in accommodating those older workers. There may be other opportunities in flexibility to make it more worthwhile for workers to go back and apply the 20-some years of knowledge, on average.

Human Resources committee  The affinity group model is working well. In mining, we're fortunate in that we have a relatively smaller number of institutions to deal with compared to, say, IT. We have nine universities and some seventeen community colleges and institutes of technology. That's a manageable group with which industry can communicate, exchange, and try to make sure they're as responsive as possible.

Human Resources committee  Many R & D activities are under way. The mining sector has one of the highest R & D budgets. I'm quite certain officials never feel that they have reached their goal. Research efforts are ongoing. The latest technology must always be used. Deposits are located ever further underground and new technologies are needed to extract the ore.

Human Resources committee  Exactly, where an infusion of federal and or provincial dollars could leverage employer investment.

Human Resources committee  Indeed, the problem is the perception that mining is physically very demanding and low tech work. That may have been true in the past. There will always be very demanding professions. I for one would have been hard pressed to operate a jack hammer and drill support weighing 100 or 125 lbs.

Human Resources committee  There's no question that the industry is cyclical and we are in the midst of the boom portion of the cycle. The consensus seems to be that this boom will be prolonged, but it will inevitably come to an end. There is a huge opportunity right now given the success that the mining sector is experiencing and given its close proximity to aboriginal communities in northern Ontario and, in fact, across Canada's north, where you have some 1,200 aboriginal communities within 200 kilometres of a mine site.

Human Resources committee  Again, I would point to occupational standards and partnerships with post-secondary education. I think it's a good thing that the requirements were changed to allow more people to gain access to that labour market. However, it shouldn't be capped there. With the standards and an understanding of the progression through various careers within an industry, it gives the employer and the education system the information they need to provide incremental training--that is, on-the-job training, or even return to school en alternance with work terms--so that people, specifically aboriginal people, can access those higher levels of employment.

Human Resources committee  I'm not aware of a specific program, but I think it's a real opportunity, whereby the workers could access a GED, for example, and complete that while they're on the job.