Changing the recruitment game: First Nations using video game to attract youth to mining.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: MINING

In northwestern Ontario, mining companies struggling to find skilled workers may soon have a new recruitment ally on their side, and it comes in a most non-traditional package: a videogame.

Thunder Bay's Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education & Training Institute (OSHKI) has commissioned Algoma Games for Health (AGFH) in Sault Ste. Marie to develop an online videogame that will grab the attention of First Nations youth, in an effort to translate their heightened interest into careers in the mining industry.

OSHKI serves the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), a collection of 49 First Nation communities located throughout the region. Gordon Kakegamic, OSHKI's e-learning coordinator, said information about the mining industry on the internet often uses tech-based language and ideologies, which is difficult for the average youth reader to understand.

"We want to present that same kind of information in a different approach using methods that gamers use," he said. "There are different strategies that programmers use to interact and engage people, and we're trying to apply those same principles to the portal. It makes learning fun."

First Nations workers comprise an untapped demographic the mining companies have, to date, been unsuccessful accessing, said Jason Naccarato, interim CEO at AGFH.

"From what the industry has relayed to us, in their eyes they have been unsuccessful in the past, going into remote areas and convincing the locals to become engaged and to come work for the project," Naccarato said. "They think they can do better, and this is one of the steps they'd like to take to try to do better"

The web portal will act as a "front office" for companies to relay their message, while appealing to youth in a teen-friendly package.

"One of the difficulties for the mining companies is they need a lot of workers, but the people who are living up there and who are most accessible for those businesses might not even be aware of what those opportunities are," explained Dwayne Hammond, the studio's director. "They might not know how to go about getting those jobs, like what education you need, what steps might you need to take to take advantage of the opportunities that are in your neighbourhood."

The game, which is about half complete, is themed around mining and First Nations culture. Students who go to the site to play will be exposed to terminology, equipment and processes common to the industry.

There is also realistic content, including job and company...