PM announces investment in skills training; supports local resource jobs in the Northwest TerritoriesFrom the
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PM announces investment in skills training; supports local resource jobs in the Northwest Territories
August 20, 2013
Hay River, Northwest Territories
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced support for a new mining sector-skills training program in the Northwest Territories and in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, which will help Aboriginal participants acquire the skills they need to fill local jobs in the rapidly expanding mining industry. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment, Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) and Minister for the Arctic Council, Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources, Bernard Valcourt, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, Bob McLeod, Premier of the Northwest Territories, Senator Dennis Patterson and Ryan Leef, Member of Parliament for Yukon.
“The North’s rapidly growing extractive industry is driving prosperity and creating demand for local skilled workers,” said Prime Minister Harper. “The support being provided today will help Aboriginal participants in the North gain the training they need to access the jobs and prosperity being generated by the industry’s growth.”
The support announced today through Employment and Social Development Canada’s Skills and Partnership Fund (SPF) will be used to develop and implement a 25-month program, which will train 400 Aboriginal participants in essential mining sector-skills. The training is currently underway and is being delivered by the Northwest Territories Mine Training Society in 11 communities and on three mine sites across the Territories and the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, including Hay River. Following the training, six local employer partners, including three area mines, will place graduates into jobs.
The Northwest Territories Mine Training Society is a unique partnership between Aboriginal governments, public government and the mining industry. For more than a decade, its mission has been to support Aboriginal people and Northerners in finding long-term employment in the mining industry.