Provincial Government Investments to Benefit Residents Preparing for Work in Mining Sector

The Governments of Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada, together with the College of the North Atlantic, announced investments totalling more than $1.2 million towards a new, state-of-the-art mining training simulator, launched today at the college’s Happy Valley-Goose Bay campus.

The Honourable Dwight Ball, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, announced $132,000 from the Regional Development Fund on behalf of the Provincial Government towards the project. Yvonne Jones, Member of Parliament for Labrador, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, announced $851,287 from ACOA’s Innovative Communities Fund for the initiative. College of the North Atlantic contributed $250,000.

The simulator will strengthen the college’s ability to offer training specific to the underground mining sector, resulting in a highly skilled workforce able to meet the particular needs of that sub-sector of the industry.

This investment supports the Atlantic Growth Strategy, one way the Government of Canada is working to achieve its Innovation and Skills Plan outcomes in this region by helping ensure everyone has the jobs, skills and learning to seize new opportunities and succeed in a growing innovation economy.

This initiative delivers on commitments in The Way Forward to strengthen the province’s economic foundation. The Way Forward outlines all actions the Provincial Government is taking to achieve a strong, diversified province with a high standard of living, and can be viewed at thewayforward.gov.nl.ca.

Quotes

“My government continues to partner with industry, post-secondary institutions and other governments to create new jobs and expand business opportunities. Today’s announcement enhances College of the North Atlantic’s capacity to develop skilled jobs, while directly supporting Vale’s industrial trades training as they advance their underground mine at Voisey’s Bay.”
Honourable Dwight Ball
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador

“The Government of Canada understands the value of partnership and co-operation. We are committed to working with our provincial counterparts and with partners like the College of the North Atlantic to ensure that federal programs supporting innovation, commercialization, scientific research and entrepreneurship are creating lasting and meaningful impacts on our economy.”
Honourable Navdeep Bains
Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for ACOA

“The Happy Valley-Goose Bay campus has historically played a significant role in providing customized workforce development programs associated with many of this province’s major industrial projects, such as the Muskrat Falls construction and Vale mining operations. This simulator will help the college further advance its efforts to create a highly-skilled pool of tradespeople to respond to the growing demands of our mining sector, including the recently-announced Vale underground expansion project.”
Yvonne Jones
Member of Parliament for Labrador

“As a post-secondary skilled trades training provider, CNA continuously monitors and identifies labour market requirements in the province, and takes action to deliver programs that reflect emerging market trends. The college determined that increased programming capacity to meet the emerging demands of the province’s mining sector was necessary based on labour market indicators. This state-of-the-art technology represents a strategic investment that enables our graduates to receive practical programming opportunities that make them employment ready. We are pleased that it will also address many of the challenges for this region’s Indigenous people when it comes to their desires to pursue mining-related careers. CNA is committed to strengthening its relationship in Labrador and the province as a whole, and is honoured to be part of this initiative.”
Dr. Bill Radford
College of the North Atlantic President and CEO