Canada’s Talent “Pond” Too Small for Big Fish?

Published by EPCM World

As the Canadian mining industry continues to thrive there is much opportunity to support our economy and promote the value of skilled trades.  But does Canada have the available homegrown talent needed to staff these new projects?

Cris Wright is a new manager of Underground Mining Services for Tetratech, and works between three offices (Colorado, Washington and British Columbia.)  He will be tasked with hiring three new employees in 2012, a challenge he does not take lightly.

Wrights’ ideal candidates will have a degree in mining engineering and at least five years’ experience working in underground mining at an operator.  Seems like simple enough requirements, but Wright asserts that finding Canadians and Americans with this experience is “extremely rare.”

The demand for experienced engineers outweighs the local talent available.  Wright asserts: “Whenever there is an economic downtown, it’s mining that turns around first.  But in my 20 years [in this industry], mining engineers have never been this hot.”

One possible reason for Canada’s lack of mid-level and senior talent is that skilled engineers are leaving for other mining hotbeds.  The Australian mining industry for instance, is “out of control” according to Wright. “[Mining professionals] change jobs every 3 to 6 months and get a 10% raise every time they make a move.  And it’s not even considered poor practice over there because everybody is doing it.”

An average mining engineer based out of Canada with five years of experience will make somewhere between 75-and-90K, whereas in Australia they can make up to 150K.  What’s the incentive for motivated young professionals to stay here?

James, now a Manager of Metallurgy for a major Gold Operator in Toronto says it was nearly impossible to find qualified Canadian candidates when hiring for his last company, a small but globally-focused Consulting firm in Toronto.   However, even more of “a nightmare” was braving the regulatory application process to source and hire skilled professionals from outside Canada (namely Australia and Africa) which often took as much as nine months to complete.

James himself has only 15 years’ experience in the industry and feels that the lack of senior engineers left in Canada is “a massive concern” for the industry as a whole. 

James explains that many of the engineers at his level – “the forty year olds that were supposed to take over” for the retiring generation of skilled engineers – have actually gone to the financial sector. Now there are few engineers left qualified to take their place, leaving a “huge strain on the market.”

As a result of this shift, James and his partners were often forced to hire “kids out of school, hoping that a few years around some grey hair would teach them to make good decisions in a consulting world.”  Realistically, James admits that this is not a permanent solution to the problem, adding that “the risk and liability to the mining industry is very dangerous.” 

But what are the alternatives?

When asked if he would hire a graduate right out of school, Wright’s answer is down-to-earth: “Yes I would.  I’ll hire them even before they’re finished school – it’s not easy to find good people.”

James on the other hand is optimistic about Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s amendments to Canadian’s foreign workers policy, changes which will make hiring skilled workers from other countries much easier and faster for Canadian employers.  The Federal Skilled Worker Program will allow up to 10,000 more skilled immigrants into Canada in 2012 than usually permitted, a change that may be of great benefit to the mining industry.