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A recent report on Canada’s mining sector suggests that there may soon be a rebound in the industry, but it warns that a drop in the number of mining engineering graduates needs to be countered with educational reform to achieve sustainability.
The Mining Industry Human Resources Council’s (MiHR) annual Canadian Mining Labour Market Outlook 2019 notes declining enrollment in mining engineering programs and highlights key occupational gaps in mining employment on- and off-site.
According to the study, undergraduate mining engineering program enrollment dropped 12% between 2015 and 2016, the largest decline of all engineering programs.
“We don’t teach enough [technology] – part of our strategic plan is to teach more of it but as far as educators are concerned, we are falling behind.”
“Changes are happening so fast in the industry, it is very difficult to keep up,” said Scott Dunbar, associate professor at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
“We don’t teach enough [technology] – part of our strategic plan is to teach more of it but as far as educators are concerned, we are falling behind,” said Dunbar.
Dunbar is quick to admit that UBC and other Canadian schools have not adapted quickly enough to keep up with industry demands, and now the education system is playing catch-up.
“In the last two years things have exploded, and [the curriculum] hasn’t changed fast enough,” said Dunbar.
“There are some major changes going on in respect to data science and machine learning.… We are introducing a new course in the next term that focuses on technology and data science.”
Another factor Dunbar thinks has contributed to decreased program enrollment is that the industry has not shed the perception that it is “dirty.” Sustainability and long-term job prospects must be at the core of all the technological advancements if there is going to be an adequate number of new entrants to the industry, he said.
The MiHR report predicts that the industry will need to hire roughly 97,450 workers over the next 10 years to satisfy market demand. The report also notes that an increasing number of mining program graduates, not just engineers, will need to be heavily steeped in STEM learning – science, technology, engineering and mathematics– to adjust to new technologies.
In 2029, mining employment is expected to be most substantial in the extraction and milling sub-sector (49%), followed by primary metal manufacturing (24%), support services (14%) and exploration (13%), according to the MiHR outlook.
Over the past three years, extraction and milling has been responsible for the largest share of the industry’s employment growth at 39%, followed by primary metal manufacturing. The outlook predicts that most employment growth over the next 10 years will come from support services (33%) and extraction and milling (29%).
It’s projected that next year, about 217,040 workers will be employed in the mining industry, an increase of roughly 3% from 2018.
(By Tyler Nyquvest)
This article first appeared in Business In Vancouver.
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I disagree with the prof. The reason for the decline in enrollment is because of industry perception at time of enrollment. Enrollment dropped in 2015 – because the kids in upper years were struggling to find jobs. Enrollment simply lags behind the industry. Compare that to 2011, when enrollment at my university peaked, because we heard of recent graduates all landing sweet gigs straight out of school. That didn’t happen with that same class of 2014 or 2015.