OTTAWA - The Canadian mining industry faces several labour market challenges and tens of thousands of skilled positions must be filled in the next decade to keep the industry robust. Despite impressive increases in the participation of various demographic groups (e.g., women), employers are still faced with an aging workforce and a looming labour shortage, according to the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), which today launched the Canadian Mining Industry Employment and Hiring Forecasts 2010 report and Mining HR Forecasts to proactively address these challenges and help industry meet future hiring requirements.

Developed under MiHR’s Mining Workforce Information Network (MIWIN), these two new resources provide extensive research and analysis on Canada’s mining labour market and workforce planning.

“For the first time ever, employers, educators, job seekers, HR professionals and other stakeholders will not only have access to an in-depth analysis of the mining industry’s workforce and its characteristics but also a web-based forecasting tool which allows them to create their own “what-if” scenarios and assess the potential impact on their hiring requirements,” says Ryan Montpellier, Executive Director at MiHR.

The Canadian Mining Industry Employment and Hiring Forecasts 2010 report expands on previous research and forecasts (conducted in 2008 and 2009) that examined the dynamics of the mining labour markets in British Columbia , Saskatchewan and Ontario . The report contains an economic overview of the Canadian mining industry and its labour market, as well as discussion on key labour market trends, including employment, labour productivity, educational attainment, employment relations, workforce demographics and diversity.

“Employment forecasts and workforce profile information form the backbone of an industry strategy for addressing the mining HR challenge. MAC member companies will gain significant benefits from access to enhanced labour market intelligence. MiHR’s labour market reports will also help the mining association as it works with government to ensure sound public policy on immigration, education and aboriginal engagement,” says Paul Hébert, Vice President, Government Affairs, The Mining Association of Canada.

Also included in the report is a description of the model for forecasting employment and hiring requirements, national, regional and occupational employment and hiring forecasts over a 10 year period and high level discussion on addressing current and future labour market challenges.

Mining HR Forecasts is a website which includes an employment forecasting tool and reports. The employment forecasting tool projects changes in employment and hiring requirements over a 10 year period, with particular emphasis on national, regional and occupational needs and generates custom forecasts based on the model and parameters specified in the Canadian Mining Industry Employment and Hiring Forecasts 2010 report.  

Users can perform simple criteria selection to generate forecasts based on region, occupation, and economic forecast scenario and generate custom forecasts by specifying labour productivity rate, separation rate and average retirement age. The tool also generates short reports which compare MiHR’s forecast scenarios to customized “what if” scenarios. This powerful forecasting tool enables industry to make strategic decisions on their future hiring requirements.

“Reliable labour market information is the foundation for informed strategies on succession planning, aligning industry with the universities, colleges and technical schools, and targeting new sources of employees. Being able to generate customized HR forecasts specific to our organization is of immense value,” says Patricia Dillon, Director, Employee Communications and Engagement, Teck Resources Limited.

The Canadian mining industry is highly competitive on the world stage and has the potential to remain successful for many years. Countries undergoing rapid economic development, such as China and India, will continue to need the raw materials that Canada provides; however, this potential is threatened by looming labour shortages and human resources issues facing the sector. Several labour market trends are impacting the availability and quality of people in mining, most notably the aging workforce, productivity and challenges in attracting new talent to the sector.

Industry must first maximize and make the best use of all available sources of labour, and second, increase its productivity through investments in training and skills development, coupled with improving the foundation for innovation and technological advances.

MiHR is committed to developing solutions to address these challenges by exploring anticipated hiring requirements over the medium to long term and providing labour market information (LMI) to sector stakeholders on an ongoing basis. MIWIN ’s suite of employment forecasting products is a key component of this solution. 

Canadian Mining Industry Employment and Hiring Forecasts 2010 and Mining HR Forecasts can be accessed for free at www.mininghrforecasts.ca. To receive a print copy of Canadian Mining Industry Employment and Hiring Forecasts 2010, or provincial reports for British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario, please contact MiHR at (613) 270-9696 or info@mihr.ca .

MiHR and this project are funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Sector Council Program. The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.

Notes to editors:

Key findings from MiHR’s latest research:

• The mining industry will need approximately 100,000 new workers by 2020 (assuming a baseline forecasting scenario)
• Over 60,000 people employed in the mining sector are expected to retire by 2020 
• Occupations facing the most significant hiring needs are heavy equipment operators, underground and surface miners, and skilled trades and professional occupations (e.g., geoscientists and engineers)
• Women make up 14.4 % of the mining workforce, an increase of 40% in 5 years
• The mining industry is the largest private sector employer of Aboriginal peoples; 6.75% of the workforce self identify as Aboriginal
• Employment levels are expected to shrink in most regions, except in the Prairies and Territories regions where employment growth is expected over the 10 year forecast period
• Despite shrinking employment, national hiring requirements average approximately 10,000 each year in the forecast period (assuming a baseline scenario). This is mainly due to age of the workforce and the need to replace retiring workers.
• The largest hiring requirements in Canada are expected in the Prairies at over 52,000 by 2020 (assuming the baseline forecasting scenario)
• Average overall turnover for employers is approximately 5.6%. Turnover is highest in trades and undesignated occupations and most employers reported that voluntary turnover in this occupational group has impeded productivity to a great extent over the past 2 years
• Average total compensation in mining is $40.92 per hour, ranging from $49.25 per hour in the Territories to $32.21 per hour in the Atlantic region