Confederation College of Thunder Bay prepares for mining construction boom in Ontario Ring of Fire

As mining exploration ramps up in the Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario, the construction industry in the region awaits busy times. Along with the expected building construction boom, there will be bridges, roads and power infrastructure to build, says Don Bernosky, vice-o-president, Regional Workforce Development (RWD), at Confederation College in Thunder Bay.

“It could be as big as the Sudbury mining basin or the whole Timmins area.”

Meeting the demand for a skilled workforce will be challenging. For training institutes like Confederation College, it is good news that mining companies are still a few years away from construction.

That gives the college “limited time” to develop appropriate training programs for building, says Bernosky.

With nine campuses in northwestern Ontario, Confederation is the only community college in the region. It offers apprenticeship training in carpentry, electrical, motive power trades, and construction trades.

In conjunction with the multi-billion dollar Ring of Fire developments, there are 12 potential mining projects around Thunder Bay, he says.

“We’ve been meeting with the (mining) companies, the government and local communities to establish a plan for the development of a future workforce,” points out Bernosky.

The first step is to identify the scope of work and schedule for each major project, he says. Training initiatives will target a wide range of industries, starting with the construction trades.

The training model is not new to the college. For the development of the Meno Ya Win Health Care Centre in Sioux Lookout, RWD teamed up with the construction trades and the Sioux Lookout Area Aboriginal Management Board to supply identified labor needs from the community to build the hospital.

“Some of the people we trained for that project went on to pursue careers in construction,” Bernosky points out.

The hospital is among a number of examples where the college has worked closely with the community and developers. It has never, however, taken on a training agenda as big as the Ring of Fire.

One of the key’s to the college’s success at meeting the skilled workforce requirements is that it gets plenty of advance notice about a planned development and its scheduled delivery, Bernosky emphasizes.

Harold Lindstrom, manager of the Construction Association of Thunder Bay (CATB), sees the college’s model as innovative.

Confederation is on the right track with how it will develop its training courses geared to work on the horizon, says Lindstrom, who sits on advisory committees at the college which review curriculum of training programs in construction, architectural and engineering.

In the meantime, he says local contractors will try to keep their skilled tradespeople gainfully employed in preparation for the increase in work.

“It can be very easy to lose some people in the (economic) condition we’re in right now. But if you lay someone off they could go to work for someone else and you won’t get them back.”

Lindstrom says before developments in the Ring of Fire move ahead, he hopes developers will discuss their manpower needs with surrounding city and community leaders.

“We’re hoping that the companies won’t put everything (projects) out all at once — and it sounds like they are willing to listen to communities on this — which helps to keep northwestern Ontario trades employed on a continuous basis,” he points out.

Such development strategies minimize materials and labour shortages.

“They (developers) will pay a premium (in wages and materials) if they put everything out at once,” he adds.

In addition to the Ring of Fire, construction is on the upswing in Thunder Bay itself where pulp and paper mill upgrades are under way after a lull of over a decade, says Lindstrom.

“We wouldn’t describe it as a boom, but rather a coming back to where we used to be 15-20 years ago.”

Furthermore, Northwestern Ontario is on the radar of unemployed or underemployed tradespeople from other parts of Ontario.

As an example, about 100 carpenters from other union locals are working in the region under permits obtained through Carpenters’ Local 1669 in Thunder Bay.

Bernosky says Confederation College recently signed a partnership with the Infrastructure Health & Safety Association to provide health and safety training.

“We will work in conjunction with IHSA to embed health and safety in all of our delivery, including health and safety for all apprentices and pre-apprentices in the building trades.”