FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Tuesday, August 6, 2013
TIMMINS, ON: Northern College and Confederation College in Thunder Bay are collaborating to broaden educational opportunities and facilitate workforce development in northwestern Ontario. A newly established agreement between the two colleges allows Confederation to share delivery of the highly reputable Northern College Haileybury School of Mines (HSM) programming at its Thunder Bay campus enabling graduates of Confederation’s Mining Techniques certificate program to enter the third semester of the HSM Mining Engineering Technician diploma program at Confederation College.
The arrangement between Northern and Confederation stemmed from a pan-northern memorandum of understanding signed earlier this year involving six colleges in northern Ontario. The colleges collaborate in developing recruitment strategies to attract learners to career-specific programs with identified skill shortages to ensure graduates find meaningful work and employers in the north have access to a highly-qualified, competitive workforce.
“As exploration activities surge in northwestern Ontario, mining is quickly becoming a dominant economic driver. In order to meet the future workforce requirements of the rapidly growing mining sector, Northern and Confederation explored the possibility of making the HSM Mining Engineering Technician diploma program available in the region,” said Fred Gibbons, President of Northern College. “The idea has become a reality and because of this partnership, we are able to offer local access to mining education at the Ontario College Engineering Technician level. By providing advanced, accessible and flexible learning options, both colleges are better able to meet the needs of our students, local employers, and the communities we serve.”
“This agreement increases access to mining education in northwestern Ontario,” said Jim Madder, President of Confederation College. “The mining sector is among the highest paying sectors of the economy. We are pleased to be able to support people locally to enter this sector as demand for workers in the mining industry is on the rise.”
According to Mining Industry Human Resources Council reports, over the next 10 years, the mining industry in the districts of Kenora, Rainy River and Thunder Bay will need over 6,700 workers; the provincial mining sector as a whole shows a cumulative hiring requirement of approximately 59,000 workers.
The Northern College Haileybury School of Mines Mining Engineering Technician program at Confederation College will include onsite and distance learning as well as field school courses. All HSM Mining Engineering Technician program courses will be approved by Northern College and the colleges will work collaboratively on staffing, curriculum, and course delivery arrangements.
For more information about the Northern College Haileybury School of Mines Mining Engineering Technician program at Confederation College visit confederationc.on.ca/miningeng or northernc.on.ca/mining-engineering-technician or email mining@northern.on.ca .
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Media Contacts:
Crystal Bresson
Manager, Marketing and Communications
Northern College
705.235.3211 ext. 2253
bressonc@northern.on.ca
OR
Kelly Arnold
Media and Communications Officer
Confederation College
807.475.6388
karnold3@confederationc.on.ca