Original article from SAY Magazine (Canada)
Summer Edition, 2008
According to the 2006 Census Aboriginal youth have grown to account for nearly half the Aboriginal population in Canada. Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources (BEAHR) sees potential for this emerging populace to fill opportunities within the environmental sector where growth is occurring simultaneously.
“Significant growth in the environmental sectors combined with a sizeable portion of the industry’s workforce nearing retirement age means that the demand for environmental practitioners will continue to grow,” says Tanya Tucker, Director of BEAHR.
BEAHR is currently taking action to attain their ambitious goal of generating 43,000 new jobs for aboriginal youth in the environmental sector over the next 5 years. To accomplish this, many programs have been created including an online guide to environmental careers for high school students, scholarship opportunities, and community-based training programs. An Aboriginal internship program, offering employers access to wage subsidies that contribute to their company’s success while providing post graduates with valuable work experience, has been created by BEAHR as well.
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Contaminated Sites
Aboriginal Communities to Benefit from Cleanup of Contaminated Sites.
Current and upcoming labour demands in Canada for contaminated sites cleanup could translate into significant employment opportunities for Aboriginal people according to the ECO Canada report titled Who will do the cleanup? This report estimates that more than 14,300 jobs will need to be filled across the country between 2006 and 2009.
“This demand creates an opportunity for Aboriginal communities to supply workers to a sector of the economy that offers a variety of jobs that are consistent with values around the care and stewardship of our environment,” says Tanya Tucker, Director of BEAHR (Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources).
It is expected that a large portion of reclamation and remediation of contaminated sites will be required in the North. According to the report, 56% of clean-up activities on federal sites are needed in the three territories creating employment opportunities in a region where the unemployment rates have traditionally been twice the national average.
“This could potentially have huge benefits for northern communities,” says Grant Trump, President and CEO of ECO Canada. “By training and developing the workforce in these areas, we will be able to meet the growing needs of contaminated sites cleanup projects and reduce unemployment.”
Of the estimated 14,300 positions, 57% will need to be filled by non-environmental workers such as drillers, excavators, truck drivers, and site managers. The remaining 43% will be filled by professionals that include engineers, geoscientists, chemists, and hydrogeologists.
