M-PIN, one year later By Alex Parsons
C
anada’s mining industry is vast and full of opportunity, which makes it a very attractive place to start a career for people of many backgrounds and skillsets. Unfortunately, internationally trained professionals coming to Canada have historically had to face many challenges before being able to work in the industry: language barriers, unfamiliar climates and unrecognized talent are just a few of the major roadblocks that newcomers have faced. The representation of immigrants and visible minorities in the Canadian economy was 23 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively; however, the representation of these under-represented groups in mining was only 13 per cent and nine per cent, respectively. Clearly, the sector still has some work to do in attracting this growing source of labour. While the mining industry continues to face challenges from a tight labour
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market, companies and human resource organizations have created programs to help immigrants acclimate to Canada and enter its mining industry, and one of the latest projects is celebrating its landmark first year. The Mining Professional Immigrant Network (M-PIN) is a joint effort between the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), The Toronto Regional Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) and Professions North/Nord (PNN), with funding provided by the Government of Ontario. Since September 2018, M-PIN has helped internationally trained professionals become aware of opportunities and secure good jobs in the Ontario mining sector, and helped the sector itself by filling labour market shortages and increasing newcomer representation in mining. “Only one year in, we have been astounded by the inter-
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