Due to growth in the sector and an aging workforce, 15 thousand workers will need to be hired by 2034 to fill the vacancies in Saskatchewan’s mining industry.

That’s from Pam Schwann, President of the Saskatchewan Mining Association. She says according to the latest Mining Labour Market Report, the number one priority is for more people to get involved in the trades.

She says right now, 15 per cent of Saskatchewan’s work force resides out of province and comes into Saskatchewan to work.

“Unless there are some changes, and unless more people enter relevant occupations to mining, that could grow to 25 per cent of our labour workforce coming from out of province in the next decade.”

Schwann says currently, less than 3.5 per cent of people choose to enter prevalent occupations in mining, such as technicians, mechanical and power engineers, and geoscientists.

“The report identifies how many of each of these occupations we are going to require over the next ten years. It really identifies what are the pressing occupations that will be needed for training institutions (to implement and advertise.)”

She also would like to see more newcomers and women entering into trade professions. Indigenous people are fairly well represented in the trades, however there is still opportunity for growth in the technical occupation sector.

Coming out of this report, the SMA will be working with K to 12 students, career guidance counselors, and post-secondary institutions to create job awareness and hopefully allow Saskatchewan mining operations to continue to grow the economy.

It isn’t all bad. Schwann says she’s seeing more students in the Mining Engineering and Technology course at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, as well as more participants going through the Digital Potash Training Course for Indigenous students.