Mining industry recognises Canada's first nationally certified mine workers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From left, Ron Jessulat, Leonard McGrath and Euclide Haché from Xstrata Zinc's Brunswick Mine in Bathurst, New
Brunswick, shown with their Underground Miner skills passports.
OTTAWA (May 24, 2011) - It can take several years to develop a skilled worker for the mining
industry. These skills and years of experience can now be documented and recognized through
national certification via the Canadian Mining Credentials Program (CMCP), developed by the
Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR). The Council will hold a national recognition
event this evening to celebrate the achievements of the inaugural group of 95 CMCP-certified
workers at the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) Conference & Exhibition in Montreal, taking
place from 6:30 - 8 pm at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, Room 510BD.
The certification program was six years in development and is based on industry-defined
standards. To date, it includes National Occupational Standards developed for four key mining
occupations: Underground Hard Rock Miner, Surface Miner, Minerals Processing Operator, and
Diamond Driller. These four Standards form the basis for the program’s certification criteria.
During the program’s pilot, the progress of participants was tracked by an appointed workplace
assessor and documented using a skills passport. The passport not only verifies the skills of an
individual for the benefit of current and future employers, but also enables workers to plan their
career development.
Certification will play an important role in increasing and retaining the valuable skills needed to
sustain the mining industry. MiHR’s research estimates that between now and 2020, the
industry will require approximately 100,000 workers to support growth and replace retirees.
Approximately 20 per cent of these new hires will be needed for skilled occupations such as
production miners, development miners, heavy equipment operators, and mill operators.
Until now, these occupations have lacked a national recognition system. This factor has
hindered recruitment and advancement within the industry because skilled employees have had
no formal documentation of their experience, which may prompt them to leave positions and
seek opportunities elsewhere. A recent MiHR survey has shown industry turnover in these
occupations to be twice as high as in other mining sector jobs.
Employers, meanwhile, have struggled to evaluate the qualifications of experienced candidates,
wasting time and resources to re-train new hires who in fact may already be competent but
haven’t had a systematic means of showing it.
“Through certification, mining workers and employers alike finally have the much-needed and
long-awaited recognition that other industries have had for some time,” highlights Barbara Kirby,
Senior Director, Workforce Development at MiHR, who has led the project since its inception.
“Some of these people have been working in the mining industry for 20 or 30 years and have
never had an official or formal way to recognize their skill and capability,” said Jim Utley, chair of
MiHR’s Standing Committee on Certification, and Vice President of Human Resources at Teck,
Canada’s largest diversified mining company. “This program provides that opportunity to
recognize those people, as well as provide new people coming into the industry with a pathway
for career development and skills recognition that lays the groundwork for them to advance to
even more senior positions in our organizations in the future.”
“When I had to restart my career in 2001 when the mine closed, I had no credentials,” said Dave
Pagnucco, a CMCP-certified Minerals Processing Operator at Teck - Highland Valley Copper, a
participant in the pilot. “I really had to start at the bottom again because there was no program in
place. I think that in the future we’ll be able to move from one mine to another, and start off at a
level that reflects our skills and credentials.”
The CMCP certification program was piloted at seven mine sites across Canada in 2010:
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Xstrata Zinc’s Brunswick Mine in Bathurst, New Brunswick
Cementation, at Totten Mine in Sudbury Ontario and Trout Lake Mine in Manitoba
Rio Tinto, Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories
Teck Coal’s Greenhills Operation in British Columbia
Northgate Minerals Corp. at the Kemess South Mine, British Columbia
Teck Resources - Highland Valley Copper, British Columbia
Inaugural certified miners have been recognized at various local events and now will be part of
the national celebration at the CIM Conference & Exhibition, May 22 - 25, 2011 at the Palais des
congrès de Montréal.
Media are invited to meet Canada’s first certified mining workers and learn more about
the Canadian Mining Credentials Program at a special CIM event Tuesday, May 24th at
6:30pm. Please email certification@mihr.ca for more information.
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MiHR and this project are funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Sector Council
Program.
About the Canadian Mining Credentials Program
The Canadian Mining Credentials Program is the cornerstone of the mining industry's efforts to
recognize the skills, knowledge and experience of mining workers, provide workers with
portable credentials, accredit training programs for mining workers and enable employers to
accurately and consistently verify the skills and experience of job applicants and support
ongoing professional recognition for their employees.
The program is founded on a set of mining industry National Occupational Standards. So far,
National Occupational Standards have been developed for four key mining occupational areas:
Underground Mining, Surface Mining, Minerals Processing and Diamond Drilling.
The National Occupational Standards provide the basis for the certification program. The first of
its kind in Canada, the certification program assesses the skills of mining industry workers and
provides these workers with portable credentials based on their experience and competency
levels. Credentials earned through the system provide employers with a valuable tool with which
to verify the skills of workers coming from different regions of Canada. Equally important, the
certification enables mining workers to access employment opportunities across the country by
providing them with an industry-based portable credential.
About the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR)
MiHR is the sector council for Canada’s minerals and metals industry. MiHR contributes to the
strength, competitiveness and sustainability of the Canadian mining industry by collaborating
with all communities of interest in the development and implementation of solutions to the
industry’s national HR challenges. For more information, visit www.mihr.ca.
For more information contact:
Lindsay Forcellini
Marketing & Communications Coordinator, MiHR
(613) 270-9696 x 58
lforcellini@mihr.ca