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Readiness program gets results
Arviat producing hires with partnership-based training

Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, May 28, 2014

ARVIAT
The Hamlet of Arviat continues to use strong partnerships to offer employment creating training opportunities in the community.

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Arviat welding trade readiness students, back row, from left, Michael Karetak, Derrick Gibbons, Bruce Fournier (instructor), Jimmy Pingushat, Louis Irkok and Jonathan Mukyungnik, and, front row, from left, Rene Aggark and Nathan Amarudjuak. - photo courtesy Keith Collier

In addition to the driller's program, which started its fifth intake three weeks ago, the hamlet has been running a work-readiness program for the past year, and recently completed a welding trade-readiness program.

Hamlet community economic development officer Keith Collier said seven of eight students successfully completed the eight-week program.

He said the course was instructed by Bruce Fournier of Ontario's Northern College, which also instructs the drilling program.

"The welding course is another part of our master plan to train people for the mining industry," said Collier.

"It had a lot of the same partners as the drilling program, with Northern College doing the instructing and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) and the Kivalliq Mine Training Society funding the program.

"It's an introduction to welding, so it focuses on the basic skills needed by someone just starting out with no welding experience whatsoever.

"It covers how to safely operate welding tools such as oxyacetylene cutters and Mig welders, how to read blueprints, do accurate measuring, draw designs and do your basic cuts and welds."

Collier said the welding program was AEM's idea, and the company has agreed to hire three people for its shops at Meadowbank.

He said it's still being decided which three of the graduates will be selected for the AEM opportunity.

"The hope is the three will go on to become skilled welders, heavy-equipment mechanics or millwrights.

"We're planning on another intake for the welding program later this year.

"We have the same three partners on board for the second intake, but I don't know where it goes after that.

"We'd like to offer it on an on-going basis, but that will depend on the demand for that skill."

Collier said Arviat is one of the most engaged communities with the mining industry, in terms of the kind of training it's doing.

He said several of the work-readiness students were hired as haul truck drivers by AEM during the past couple of weeks, and the Boart Longyear Drilling Co. just hired six of Arviat's drilling graduates for work at the Kiggavik Project west of Baker Lake.

"We're seeing employment from these programs and that's exactly what we want.

"We want to see more, of course, but we're seeing quite a bit right now, so we're definitely happy about that."

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