A one stop shop for skilled mining labour.Four Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River and Lake Nipissing. Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it community colleges are banding together with Laurentian University Laurentian University, main campus at Sudbury, Ont., Canada; bilingual, coeducational; founded 1960. Among its faculties are those in astronomy, commerce, computer science, education, engineering, law, mathematics, music, native studies, nursing, physics, and social to provide the mining industry with a one-stop shopping source for skilled labour. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After Sudbury's Cambrian College Cambrian College is a college of applied arts and technology in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1967, and funded by the province of Ontario, Cambrian has campuses in Sudbury, Espanola and Little Current. and Northern College of Timmins signed a memorandum of understanding A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a legal document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action and may not imply a legal commitment. last October to create a Federated School A federated school, federated college, federated university, or affiliated school is an educational institution which is independent in some respects, but is ultimately governed by a larger institution. of Mines, the two founding partners were expected to add three more educational partners to the mix by late January. Coming on board are Thunder Bay's Confederation College Confederation College is a provincially funded community college located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has area campuses in Dryden, ON, Fort Frances, ON, Geraldton, ON, Kenora, ON, Marathon, ON and Sioux Lookout, ON. , North Bay's Canadore College and Sudbury's Laurentian. One of the purposes of the school is to assist the mining industry in meeting its anticipated labour force and developmental needs. Cambrian College president Sylvia Barnard says the School of Mines should make it easier for industry to access the training and the employees they need. She calls the Federated School "a coming together of all our strengths" to serve the industry's needs. With an estimated 58 per cent of workers in the mining industry expected to retire by 2009, the Canadian mining industry is forecasting a need of 80,000 skilled workers. The school will provide not just mining technicians, but all of the various trades in demand. All four colleges deliver skilled trades geared to the mining and mining supply services sector, while Laurentian offers degree programs in mining engineering, geology and the environmental services. Northern College's Haileybury campus is home to the world-renowned Haileybury School of Mines, which has trained more than 2,000 graduates. The Federated School is part of the training and education link to the larger Centre of Excellence in Mining Innovation being proposed for Sudbury. "We believe as a group that collaboration makes us all stronger," says Barnard. "It eliminates the duplication and we work from our strengths across the North." She says the partnership demonstrates a commitment to economic development in all the 200 resource-dependant communities they serve in the region. "If we can collaborate, it makes it easier for industry. It gives industry one point of contact." Included in their plans is the creation of a mining school directorate, starting with the hiring an executive director who will be a centre point of contact representing all of the college partners and their trades programs. The office will likely be headquartered in Sudbury on the Cambrian campus. Barnard says they are pursuing about $1 million in start-up funding from FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund is a division of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in the Canadian province of Ontario, whose purpose is to provide funding and program support to foster economic development in the economically disadvantaged Northern Ontario region. Corp. (NOHFC NOHFC Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (Government of Ontario, Canada) ) to be spread out over three years. "As soon as the new partners are signed on at the end of January, we will be moving forward with the (funding partners)," she said. In the months to follow, they expect to name an executive director, draft a governance model and terms of reference Terms of reference allude to a mutual agreement under which a command, element, or unit exercises authority or undertakes specific missions or tasks relative to another command, element, or unit. Also called TORs. , define a scope of responsibility and make industry contacts. Barnard says enrolment in Cambrian's trades programs are at or near capacity. This year, 600 students are registered in mining or mining-related programs with close to 1,000 in various skilled trades. "We're running our shops from 7:30 am to almost midnight. We're looking at weekend delivery of apprenticeship programs because we're running out of lab and shop space." In May, the college partners will be looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. placements for 500 apprenticeship students for a four-month summer semester, mostly in the mining sector. Barnard says these "ready-to-be-productive" electricians, millwrights, heavy equipment mechanics, welders, machinists and tool-and-die makers will have one year of college under their belts as well as their first level of apprenticeship when they graduate. Cambrian has one of the world's best mining technician programs and is exporting its curriculum abroad. They have been involved in mining training courses in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Chile, Peru, Saudi Arabia and they are working with the Egyptian government's training ministry and an engineering firm to start up a multi-year, 10-phase training project in mining, health and safety, and management in that country. An agreement was to be signed in Cairo by late January. www.cambrianc.on.ca www.laurentian.ca www.northernc.on.ca By IAN ROSS Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. |
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