Federal gov't gives $7.4M to Mine Training Society to train Indigenous people

The federal government has earmarked $7.4 million to the Mine Training Society to train Indigenous people.

"Our criteria is Aboriginal first," says Candy Brown, a manager, career and assessment officer at the Mine Training Society in Yellowknife.

The society hopes to train up to 1,000 Indigenous people between 2017 and 2020, including 300 women and 400 young people between the ages of 18 and 30 years old.The new project, called Grey to Gold, will include 18 communities in the N.W.T. and Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.

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N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod announced the funding on Thursday, which will come from the federal government's Skills and Partnership Fund.

"There were 228 proposals and not all of them got money. So I was very happy that the Mine Training Society was successful in meeting the criteria and get funding," McLeod said.

He says the training is "creating a very positive change that will have lasting effects on our community."

"Many talented and experienced Indigenous people are looking for good jobs but they often face barriers to employment," McLeod said.

Though Brown says no new training has been designed for this specific project, participants will receive classroom and hands-on training to equip them for jobs in the mining industry.

The society keeps track of its trainees up to 12 weeks after the end of their program and, according to Brown, they have a "very good success rate."

Over the past decade, the society says it has facilitated employment for five per cent of the N.W.T. labour force. Brown said women already make up 30 per cent of the society's trainees but they hope to train more.

The Skills and Partnership Fund finances projects that "contribute to the skills development and training-to-employment of Indigenous workers towards long-term, meaningful employment."

The Mine Training Society says it has trained 3,823 persons since 2004 with money from the federal fund.