Workforce Participation Rates and Diversity

As the current mining workforce approaches retirement and the industry's traditional labour pool shrinks, it is critical that industry employers seek out and retain diverse sources of skilled workers, such as women, youth, new Canadians and Aboriginal peoples, in order to stay competitive.

According to MiHR's employer survey, diversity and inclusion are priorities. The top five business reasons for investments in developing policies and increasing representation of diversity groups included:

1. Improved community relationships
2. Improved access to global talent
3. Legal requirements (e.g., Impact and Benefit Agreements)
4. Creating connections with stakeholders, and
5. Corporate social responsibility

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Women in Mining

Compared to the Canadian labour force as a whole, women are under-represented in the mining industry. However, their participation has increased steadily from just over 10 per cent in 1996 to 14 per cent in 2006

• Women are generally employed in administrative and office support roles and hold fewer jobs than men in non-traditional roles.
• In 2010, Women in Mining (WIM) Canada, in partnership with MiHR, released findings from a detailed report on women's participation: Ramp-UP: A Study on the Status of Women in Canada's Mining and Exploration Sector. This report provides bench-marking statistics to measure improvements on the status of women in mining, along with information for employers on the barriers to engagement of female workers, and suggestions on how to increase their participation.

Read more on Women in Mining - Download the full National Labour Market Report

Download Ramp-UP: A Study on the Status of Women in Canada's Mining and Exploration Sector

Aboriginal Participation in Mining

Many industry employers consider hiring a local workforce and growing local companies to be top priorities for developing the future workforce. Overall, the Aboriginal population is relatively young, expanding rapidly and subject to high rates of unemployment. In addition, hundreds of Aboriginal communities are in close proximity to active mining and exploration sites. Aboriginal inclusion in mining is central in many employers' diversity strategies.

• The mining industry is the most significant private sector employer of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Almost seven per cent of the mining workforce self-identify as being of Aboriginal descent (more than double the participation rate in the Canadian labour force).
• Respondents to MiHR's 2010 National Employer Survey indicated that, on average, 12 per cent of their workforces self-identify as being of Aboriginal descent.
• Over half of respondents specifically target Aboriginal peoples in their attraction, recruitment, retention and advancement activities.
• Approximately 40 per cent of respondents said that they had agreements in place that commit the organization to specific levels of employment or targeted business development and spending on Aboriginal communities.

New Canadians in Mining

Population projections indicate that new Canadians will account for an increasing share of labour force growth in Canada over the next five to ten years . In fact, net change in the labour force would be negative by 2030 without immigration.

• Mining is a global industry with a mobile workforce. However, the industry is not attracting its share of new Canadians; according to the Statistics Canada 2006 Census, immigrants account for only 8.7 per cent of the mining workforce. This is significantly lower than the overall immigrant participation rate of 21 per cent in the Canadian labour force.
• Employers are working to change perceptions among new Canadians that mining is dirty, dangerous, and relatively "low tech".
• Foreign-credential recognition programs and easy access to language training are also industry priorities.