Saskatchewan’s mining and minerals sector is finding ways to recruit new workers in the face of a labour shortage.

Al Shpyth with the International Minerals Innovation Institute says a recent Saskatchewan Mining Association study indicates there will be a 3800-worker shortage by 2034, all of which are needed in the top ten most prevalent occupations in the sector.

“The biggest gaps are underground miners. The next one is millwrights and industrial mechanics. The supervisor space, heavy equipment operators, industrial electricians, heavy duty equipment mechanics, and welders. Those are among the top.”

He adds that he’s been with the IMII since 2016, and he hasn’t seen a labour shortage like this in quite some time.

“It’s more than a decade ago, the start of the 2010s, that we were really looking for new people in a big way.”

In an effort to fill this gap, the IMII is inviting post-secondary institutions and industry partners to get involved in the new Workforce Development Challenge. IMII is looking at four possible new pathways to get people involved in a mining career.

“One we call Flex Path. For young people who have already finished high school or have fallen out of the K-12 system, but they are out there looking for a career, we’re wanting to create some new, more flexible ways to get them into post-secondary programs that would then bet them employed in the industry.”

The program will develop alternate ways to get people involved in the mining sector, such as remote learning opportunities, non-linear career pathways, work-first internships, and alternative routes into engineering careers.

The other three involve using artificial intelligence to bring mining-relevant training into rural and remote communities, creating work-first internships, finding and alternative routes into engineering careers. Shpyth hopes to have a program underway by 2026.

Organizations wanting to help the cause are asked to visit imii.ca/workforce-development.