Yukon College celebrates 50 years

Residents of the Yukon will be able to train at home for careers in the mining sector

by Karissa Gall

Yukon College has a lot to celebrate in this, its 50th year, including the recent establishment of the new Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining (CNIM).

Established in November 2012 after a feasibility study, the centre is the school’s answer to the significant need for Yukon-based mine training, education and research.

According to CNIM executive director Shelagh Rowles, while there was diminished demand for mine training in the 1990s after major mines shut down, by 2008 it was evident that another boom was beginning within the territory.

“Between 2008 and 2010 the college engaged in a feasibility study for a more formal way of addressing training needs,” said Rowles. “Before, if we had individuals that were interested in pursuing employment in an industrial setting they might have taken some of our pre-employment apprenticeship courses, but there was nothing that was specifically targeted to the mining industry.

There wasn’t a way to co-ordinate the delivery to serve the needs of multiple mines and multiple communities in a co-ordinated way.”

Partnering with Yukon mines

With a projected growth in mines and in the global economy, Rowles said, there was a strong argument for a centre for northern mining and innovation to be founded in Whitehorse. 

“The thought was to not only look at training in isolation,” said Rowles, “but also to be a place where we would conduct and facilitate research that would help with the sustainability of mines, with reclamation practices and ways that mines can continue to operate well in the midst of climate-change challenges. Now we have a much more co-ordinated, holistic approach to responding to the needs within the territory.”

Rowles said that due to the working relationships the school has developed with northern mines, the centre is able to offer unique, hands-on training to students and contract training to mines already in production.

“There are many programs that people could take across the country,” Rowles said, “but here, people have the opportunity to work in a field environment that’s in the midst of a mining boom with some of the richest deposits in the country. They’d have the opportunity to go out and test and explore that, not just look at the theories.”

A personalized approach

CNIM starts the training up front, Rowles said, giving students the opportunity to work for 16-week periods in mines, in exploration or in other industrial sectors.

“There are field opportunities, and we see that as a huge opportunity for students when it comes to the apprenticeable trades,” said Rowles.

She said the centre completed its first Introduction to Mining Operations program this spring, introducing students to three producing mines, the mining life cycle, heavy equipment used in Yukon’s mining industry, and a two-week full-shift work placement.

Rowles said the centre also personalizes its hands-on brand of training to better serve students’ needs.

“Rather than having a transcript-driven selection process, we really tried to match people with job opportunities,” she said. “We advertised the program and HR people from the three producing mines and myself actually interviewed every single applicant. From the beginning there was a bond created between the industry people and the students, and for the students this was their roadmap to getting employment.”

The 12 students who were selected for the program were introduced to the mining life cycle in a supported environment so they’d understand all components of mining, from basic exploration through to closure. That program ended about a month ago and 11 of the 12 graduates of the program are now employed.

Based on the success of the pilot introduction to mining program, Rowles said the centre is now in the process of developing a comprehensive program plan that would start in August.

“There’s a lot of activity,” she said. “Now it’s just confirming that indeed we have the budget to go ahead and plan and prepare and implement.”

The future of Yukon College

Rowles said the activity at CNIM is part of a larger trend at Yukon College, which she said is going through a transformation right now due to a change in demand for training.

“We are actually in the process of exploring the viability of becoming a university,” she said.  “We don’t have our own degree yet, but we’re working towards that.

“Historically, people would go outside for their education and then return to the territory for work.  That’s changed. We see a real desire here with people in the territory to not have to leave in order to pursue education. The centre is serving that well.”

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