RAE EDZO - As demand grows for heavy equipment operators in the NWT, 16 Aboriginals are preparing to fill the void.

Aboriginal Engineering Ltd., in partnership with the Mine Training Society and Nishi Khon Freeway, have just finished running a Heavy Equipment Operations and Maintenance Training Program in Behchoko.

"We recognized the need for heavy equipment operators. There is just such a big demand right now," said Karen Lau, project engineer with Aboriginal Engineering.

There are hundreds of jobs available for heavy equipment operators in the NWT, according to general manager of the Mine Training Society, Hilary Jones.

Phase One of the course, which started on March 12, involved classroom training. Students were certified in first aid, Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), and dangerous goods transport.

Students spent two weeks in the shop learning about loaders, dozers, graders, excavators, backhoes, and Tandem trucks, all which they later learned to operate.

For the final two weeks, students had a chance to get out into the field to practice on the equipment.

Phase Two of the program will be conducted in May at the abandoned Tundra Mine gold site, 230-km northeast of Yellowknife. Trainees will work a two-week in and two-week out rotation for six months.

Aboriginal Engineering received the contract to remediate the site, and felt it was the perfect opportunity for the students to gain experience.

"There, they will be applying what they learned in Phase One," Lau said. "They will be learning on heavy equipment, learning how remediation projects work."

To become a journeyman for heavy equipment, a person needs 4,000 certified hours. Through this program, students can reach a third of that requirement.

The MTS has provided $500,000 in funding for the program.

"The program met our guiding principals, and as well, there were job attachments to the training," said Jones.

Perhaps the greatest success of the program is that it had a 100 per cent retention rate.

"We started off with 16 trainees and that's how many we ended up with," Lau said. Three out of the 16 students are female.

Upon graduation, a number of employment opportunities are available for students.

"Aboriginal Engineering will try to employ as many as possible," Lau said. Yet, due to the nature of their work, which is seasonal, there is a limit to how many they can hire.

The Tli Cho government has expressed interest in hiring some of the graduates through their own businesses.

"There are potential opportunities in the mines," Lau added.

"I took the program to get training towards a trade," said 19-year-old trainee Garret Tsetta, of Yellowknife. Tsetta hopes to work in a mine on a loader or dozer.

"Our instructor was good. He taught us a lot," Tsetta said of course instructor Grant Giroux.

The program is not yet officially accredited, but Aboriginal Engineering is working to have it recognized.

Aboriginal Engineering hopes to run an identical program in Deline, starting on May 21. Fieldwork for that program will be remediation of the Port Radium site.