Mining Fundamentals Cohort #1

Overview

Hudbay Minerals reached out to Northern Manitoba Sector Council to facilitate a 9- week (3-week with Workplace Education Manitoba(WEM) and 6-week with Hudbay) train to employment. The program was to target students from the Moose Lake and OCN community to get more people into the workforce. This program was delivered in partnership with Northern Manitoba Sector Council, Workplace Education Manitoba, and Hudbay Minerals in Snow Lake, Manitoba. We started planning late October early November ,2024. We wanted to complete the selection process before the holidays as it would be a busy time trying to coordinate through the holiday season. We made many different versions of poster. Held multiple meetings over poster resulting in a slow start to get poster launched. CEDF designed and created poster for the team, which was very helpful. November 18^th the poster was launched on NMSC website and Facebook, we also sent copies to Employment and training office in OCN to advertise.  The application period was available for two weeks. Over 90 applications flooded in within this short time. We held an information session to meet potential students and showcase the program in OCN on November 27^th at the employment and training office. December 2^nd, we started the screening process sifting through the applications. This process was more complex and time-consuming than expected. 16 students were contacted for interviews in the hope of accepting 10. Interviews took place at NMSC office in The Pas, interviews were planned by NMSC and ran by Hudbay along with NMSC mentor to ensure the students would be eligible for jobs after training.   The selected candidates where then offered positions in the paid training program included 3 weeks with WEM took place in The Pas at the Wescana Inn before Mining fundamental training with Hudbay.  We wanted to ensure there was no barriers for students each student  was offered hotel room and meals for duration of course along with competitive wages.

Activities

January 13-17^th 2024

– Student introduction with NMSC team, mentor speech to break that barrier with students / find repour with students making course more enjoyable for all.

-Intro to course filled out SPRS forms, Photo consent forms, and required paperwork for Hudbay to ensure smooth transition for hiring process.

-WEM came in for day to complete assessments to see what kind of upscaling the students could use for the workforce.

-Digital skills – consisted with completing resumes for each student, creating email addresses, sending correct formatted emails.

-Addiction awareness

-First aid (one day)

–     Industry day Dave Owens virtually joined and talked all about mining with students, shared his mining experience and expertise.  NMSC team (Glenn, Terry and mike) all shared their industry experience and how’s its paid off for them to encourage the students to take full advantage of the opportunity.

January 20^th, 24^th

• WEM LIFT consists of being reliable in the workplace, taking initiative, personal presentation, importance of being present, engaged and on time, why work is important to our sense of self.

January 27^th-31^st

• WEM assessments determined students should be upscaling reading and writing for half day and numeracy in afternoon for final week.

February 4^th -March 12^th

-Hudbay on Job shadowing for 3 tours. 1 tour consists of 11.5 days. 7 on 7 off.

-One student resigned in the second last week due to childcare issues. Students had a good work ethic and the teacher would recommend hiring him.

Succes Stories

The completion rate of 90% is very positive. 9/10 of the students secured full-time jobs with high salaries and full benefits. The hardest part is getting started, these 9 students have a career now for the rest of their lives. Learners reported a boost in self- confidence, being better equipped to pursue their goals, higher motivation to keep working towards their goals. In addition, they developed relationships with employers, learned all about mining and worked in different areas and positions on the mine site. Student that resigned from the program will be kept in mind for further courses.