Evaluation of Indigenous employability programs in the Canadian mining industry

The participation rate of the Indigenous workforce in the mining industry is significantly lower than that of non-Indigenous people. The purpose of this research was to determine how public and private programs aimed at promoting the recruitment, integration and retention of Indigenous employees in the Canadian mining industry meet the needs of Indigenous employees and mining employers. Five categories of programs were assessed (liaison, work readiness, site readiness, cultural awareness and career progression), according to 50 criteria. A literature review and interviews with 86 participants (43 Indigenous, 27 employers and 16 representatives of public programs in Québec and Nunavut) showed that only public programs existed in areas not subjected to government/company-Indigenous agreements, meeting 34% of the needs, compared to 76% for private programs in signatory territories. Implementing private programs in non-signatory territories could be beneficial, but would require a mentality change in the industry.