A Saskatoon company has launched a new online database that aims to link Indigenous job seekers, businesses and corporate Canada together.
Sheldon Wuttunee is the CEO of the Saskatchewan First Nations Natural Resource Centre of Excellence.
He says there is a lack of information out there about Aboriginal job seekers and businesses and his company wants to change that with its new online portal called Export.
“With Export, we’re going to have an opportunity to be able to generate and obtain that data and then certainly look forward to managing and marketing that data moving forward,” he says.
The natural resource centre of excellence hosted a one-day business conference in Saskatoon Wednesday which included B.C.-based Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie as the keynote speaker.
Louie says he wants to end what he calls the “rez culture” – where often not enough resources are put into reducing high unemployment numbers on First Nations reserves – and believes such an online database could be one of the solutions.
“Corporate Canada though multimedia, or however it’s done, in this case it’s a website where our people can put their resumes and our people can look up companies that are looking for workers – this is awesome,” he says.
About 250 people attended the Linking Industry and Community Conference.
The Saskatchewan First Nations Natural Resource Centre of Excellence has been in existence since 2009.
Clarence Louie has been elected chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band ten straight times dating back to 1985.