No milling around after graduation: education agreement ends with jobs for First Nations students.

AuthorMyers, Ella
PositionTraining & Education

When Austin Atatise-Morriseau graduates from Cambrian College in 2017, he won't have to spend any time handing out his resume.

Atatise-Morriseau and his five classmates have guaranteed jobs at Resolute Forest Products upon graduating from the Sudbury college's two-year industrial mechanical millwright technical program. It's part of a new education funding model that brings together government, industry and First Nations communities.

Cambrian College, Resolute and the communities of Red Rock and Fort William First Nation are working with funding from the Ontario government to offer the training to six members of the communities.

"I'd been trying to get out of my town for three years," said Fort William's Atatise-Morriseau. The students flew down, got set up in the school's residence, and started on Jan. 11.

Ontario is giving $138,156 to cover the cost of tuition, books, supplies and accommodation over the two-year program. The money comes from the Targeted Initiative Fund (TIF), which supports educational institutions and community-based organizations, and efforts to improve programming, service delivery or education and training opportunities.

Additional living costs are covered by the students' home communities, Cambrian provides tutoring and assistance through the Wabnode Centre for Aboriginal Services, and the students will complete their apprenticeship at Resolute before starting their employment with the company.

Jason Thompson, from Thunder Bay's Superior Strategies, connected Resolute to the community leaders and is acting as a third-party co-ordinator for the program.

For Resolute, the gain lies in securing trained employees at a time they need them most, and in a way that benefits the communities they work with.

"Over the next few years, many of our long-standing workers will be taking a well-deserved retirement, and we will need to attract skilled candidates who are motivated and eager to learn," said Seth Kursman, Resolute's vice-president of corporate communications, sustainability and government affairs.

Resolute...

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