Realizing Indigenous employment goals: Challenges and strategies
By Jamie Wolcott, Director of Labour Market Information and Gustavo Jurado, Labour Market Economist, the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR)
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mpact Benefit Agreements (IBAs) are an important pillar of establishing partnerships between Indigenous communities and mining companies. Failure to meet IBA commitments can erode trust and undermine the very partnership both parties are working towards, making it critical for IBAs to be negotiated not only with good intentions but also with the knowledge that the goals are attainable. For Canada’s mining industry, a growing commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) includes building trusting relationships with Indigenous communities and ensuring that community members directly benefit from mineral exploration and mining activities. Accordingly, IBAs typically set goals for mining operations to employ a minimum
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percentage of their workforce from the local community. Although goals are negotiated in good faith, parties often lack the necessary information to know whether they are in fact feasible. At first glance, it is natural to assume that a particular community — home to many thousands of people — can meet any negotiated employment target with little difficulty. However, a quick glance is not enough to measure the true extent of the labour pool, as several considerations can push or pull on the readily available labour supply.
What is the true size of the local labour pool? Estimating who should be counted “in” or “out” of the potential labour pool can be difficult. It depends on many factors including skills, wages and labour force participation, with each having
an impact on the size of the workforce available for mining operations. Limiting factors can add up quickly. Take the following hypothetical example: in a population of 10,000 people, 65 per cent are of working age and 70 per cent among them are labour force participants. Of these, only 10 per cent are estimated to be in mining-relevant occupations such as heavy equipment operator or skilled tradesperson. The original candidate pool of 10,000 quickly dwindles to fewer than 500 people, many of whom may already be employed by competitors. Other barriers to employment such as the fly-in-fly-out schedule, childcare, familial obligations and disability can further reduce this number. Without an informed estimate of the number of potential candidates, IBAs run the risk
