Training program successful in northern Ontario
By Rick Garrick
Hardy Giles Consulting has already provided heavy equipment operator employment opportunities for about 20 unemployed and underemployed Indigenous people through a recently-announced federal government investment of $2.5 million.
“The funding came through in the spring and we basically hit the road running in June,” says Melissa Hardy-Giles, owner of Hardy Giles Consulting and a Red Rock Indian Band citizen. “We went to our first community in July, so it was really quick.”
Hardy-Giles says the Origin Recruitment and Operator Training mobile trailer, which includes four Cat heavy equipment simulators for a front-end loader, a bulldozer, a rock truck and an excavator, is used to provide training to participants in their own communities. Origin is also owned by Hardy-Giles.
“It’s a mobile classroom,” Hardy-Giles says. “It’s heated for the wintertime and it’s also air conditioned for the summertime.”
The funding for the Operation Innovation project, which is being delivered in partnership with training provider Workplace Training and Safety First and industry partner LTL Contracting Ltd., was provided through the federal government’s Skills and Partnership Fund.
“Breaking down barriers to employment for Indigenous people will ensure that everyone has a real and fair chance at success,” says Patty Hajdu, minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, during the Jan. 15 funding announcement at the Hardy Giles Consulting office in Thunder Bay. “This announcement is really important because what it does is it actually supports skills training for Indigenous people, specifically in heavy equipment operating. And it does so by doing outreach in communities, going to communities and letting participants do some training in their own communities and get a sense of whether this is a career path for them. It also addresses our need for even more heavy equipment operators as we see the labour market tighten and as we see our unemployment rate shrink.”
The project is designed to train participants in simulated heavy equipment operation roles and to help them gain work experience in the natural resource extraction industry. The project also includes strategies to help address the challenges Indigenous women face in securing long-term, meaningful employment in the mining, construction and forestry industries.
“A lot of people don’t have the money to do (the training), but they have the heart and they have the drive,” Hardy-Giles says. “And with us, we are trying to get as much funding as possible to help us support these people and have the means to train them and get them as qualified as possible.”
Don Rusnak, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Indigenous Services and Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP, says the Operation Innovation project is an “amazing program.”
“Their company does work that is not your typical training program,” Rusnak says. “(They identify and work) with individuals to make sure they get the correct training and are job ready for the workforce.”
Charmaine McCraw, Operation Innovation project coordinator and a Biigtigong Nishnaabeg citizen, says the first training session was a success.
“Our goal was to put 10 people to work and we’ve put close to 20 people to work just in our first intake,” McCraw says. “So we will continue that another five times. Each intake takes about six weeks.”
McCraw says the five upcoming training sessions will be held over the next three years. Participants need to be 18 years old and of Indigenous descent to enrol in the project. Interested people can contact McCraw for information at 807-356-2123 or charmaine@originrecruitment.com.