Photo courtesy of miningandexploration.ca
The Conference Board of Canada says Saskatchewan’s young and growing Aboriginal population is on the cusp of a major opportunity for long term, high paying jobs, but only if it starts getting ready now.
The Conference Board released a ten year analysis called, “The Canadian Resources Sector: A goldmine for employment opportunities.” The board says growth in the resource industry will be almost non-existent, increasing by only two percent over ten years, however there will be a wave of retirements opening the door for about 65 thousand new workers.
The board’s associate director, Marie Christine-Bernard says the jobs are high paying but they require training. She says apprenticeships, technical schools or even university will put the job seekers at the front of the line.
“Our study identified that most of the job opportunities are going to require some form of training — very few jobs require absolutely no education,” she said.
The Aboriginal high school dropout rate in Saskatchewan is currently about 60%, while the off-reserve unemployment rate is about 25%. Bernard hopes the release of this report and its long term objectives will prompt would be job seekers to start the process of getting job ready.
“The Aboriginal population probably doesn’t have all the skills to fill these jobs openings,” she said. “We hope with this study we can better prepare the Aboriginal population to occupy those jobs.”
Aboriginal people currently make up a greater share of the mining industry workforce than any other industry in Canada.