Southern Canadians may think of the North as a frigid no-man’s-land dotted with the occasional polar bear. In reality the region has much more to offer than ice, snow and large white mammals. The northern parts of our provinces and the territories are rich with employment opportunities for young people—as rich as the natural resources that Canada has long been recognized for.
The three main natural resource industry sectors in Canada are forestry, mining, and oil and gas. Each is currently in a human resources crunch as older workers are easing into retirement age. It’s a golden opportunity for young career seekers to head north and get in on the ground floor.
A career in mining has a lot to offer, says Melanie Sturk, Director of Attraction, Retention and Transition for the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR). The industry offers “opportunities for adventure, the opportunity to think on your feet, to problem solve and work as a team,” she says.
According to the Mining Association of Canada website, mining occurs in 12 out of the 13 provinces and territories. In 2009, the industry contributed $36 billion to our gross domestic product and employed 306, 000 workers.
Through labour market research, MiHR predicts the mining industry as a whole will need to hire about 100,000 new workers within the next 10 years, Sturk says.
Better still, jobs will be available in all areas and skill levels, not just in specialized positions. There are more than 120 types of jobs available in the sector, ranging from general labourers, to technicians, geologists and engineers.
Sturk notes that the greatest area of predicted growth will be in the northern territories. There are a lot of exploration projects currently underway in Canada’s North, and it is hoped that these projects will result in lucrative finds and mines in the future.
Many mining jobs in remote locations are what they call “fly in and fly out”: the company flies employees in to the work site for two-to-four-week shifts, and returns them home by plane for extended time off. While living near the mine, workers are provided with room and board as well as recreation facilities.
“It is a very lucrative career choice for people,” Sturk says. “[It is great] for a young person to be able to go and live in a remote northern area, make great money, and go back to city living with their entire paycheque with them.”
When it comes to choosing the post-secondary education or training needed to pursue a career in mining, Sturk says it depends on the occupation you are interested in. “There are lots of educational programs across Canada that provide what you need to get into mining,” she says.
Yukon College is one post-secondary institution that is responding to the mining boom in the territories. Within its School of Mining, the college has introduced a couple of pre-employment apprenticeship programs that aim to provide trainees with the basic skills they need to succeed in specific mining trades, says Shelagh Rowles, Dean of Applied Science and Management. The college is also in the process of developing a geotech diploma program slated to start in September 2012.
Many Yukon College students hail from the territory, but the institution welcomes students from all over Canada. “It is a good opportunity not only for Yukoners but for people from other provinces and territories to get an education in the context of where the activity is taking place,” Rowles says.
But the opportunities in the North extend beyond the territories. The oil and gas sector is highly active in the remote northern areas of Alberta, British Columbia and southern Saskatchewan.
As in the mining industry, the demand for people in oil and gas is high, and the need for workers is only expected to rise with the retirement of about 30 percent of the industry’s workforce within the next 10 years. By 2020, the industry will need to hire a small city of workers—between 39,000 and 130,000 people, says Cheryl Knight, CEO of the Petroleum Human Resources Council.
Knight says the oil and gas industry is a field-based industry with 80 percent of available jobs located in rural, remote environments. While the majority of business and operations support and professional roles are based in head offices (in cities such as Calgary), most of the operators, field workers and trades are located in the field.
Math, science and computer skills are fundamental when considering a career in oil and gas, Knight says, because so much of the job involves instruments, chemicals and equipment.
With its workers required to work long shifts and live in remote locations, the oil and gas industry may not be for everyone, Knight admits, yet it offers many different career paths and opportunities to travel, learn and grow. “It is a very exciting industry with a ‘can-do attitude’,” she says. “It is made up of people who don’t take no for an answer and are used to solving problems.”
As well as the leading natural industries, however, there are also jobs to be had in other, less well known sectors in the North—opportunities for young career seekers to stretch themselves.
“Because the population is smaller, the range of topics that you are exposed to in your job is much greater,” says Erin Light, a water information specialist with the Yukon government. “There is more opportunity for the development of skills.”
Light’s job is to offer data management and information support to three different government sections within the Water Resources Branch that deal with water: hydrology (the study of water and how it moves through the water cycle), water quality and water inspections. She helps to ensure that the data stored is held up to scientific standards. She also manages a website that provides information to the public about how Yukon water is used, managed and monitored (yukonwater.ca).
Originally from Waterloo, Ontario, Light and her husband have lived in Yukon for only a few months. After studying for her master’s degree in Churchill, Manitoba, Light fell in love with the North, and when she graduated, she and her husband decided to search for jobs in the territories and build a life there.
Light says there are many different water-related jobs in the Yukon and the people in those positions have wide-ranging backgrounds, including technical and professional training. Some of these positions include water inspectors, water quality technicians and hydrology technicians. Jobs can be found in the private sector (Light says there are several large environmental consulting companies in Whitehorse alone) and within the territorial and federal governments.
About three years ago, says Light, there was a push to find out how water resources in Yukon were changing. As a result, some new jobs were created in hydrology research. She admits that having a masters in isotope hydrology helped her get noticed, but simply holding a diploma earned through field technician courses, or a degree in geography, geology, earth science or environment science, is sufficient to obtain many of these jobs.
Considering a career path is not an easy task. It is important to know every option available—and it’s clear that Canada’s North presents a wealth of them for young people looking to start a career in natural resources. As well as a picturesque and unique part of our country, the North is home to the natural resources that create countless jobs, help support our economy, and make Canada the nation it is.
