Essential Skills - National Adult Literacy Database

Essential Skills and the Northern Oil and Gas Workforce Final Report and Resource Guide
Day 1 SESSION 2:
PERSPECTIVES ON TRAINING NEEDS IN THE NORTH
Presenters: Colin MacGregor (Aboriginal Futures)
Reid Warne (Imperial Oil)
Celina Stroeder (Albian Sands)
Overview:
In this session, delegates heard three perspectives on training needs in the north. Colin
outlined, from Aboriginal Futures perspective, what types of programs and training are
needed to enable those who wish to enter the workforce to be successful. Reid Warne, of
Imperial Oil, focused on the technical and essential/employability skills workers will need in
order to acquire jobs related to building and maintaining a pipeline and Celina discussed
approaches to skills development and best practices for developing local employment.
Colin MacGregor: Aboriginal Futures
Aboriginal Futures was set up to manage an Aboriginal Skills Enhancement Program (ASEP)
funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. The focus of Aboriginal
Futures is on training and skills enhancement. One of the challenges for the initiative is that
jobs in the oil industry in the north tend to be short term and/or seasonal. As a result,
Aboriginal Futures has adopted a legacy approach, that is, the establishment of partnerships
to enable the residents of the north, especially those individuals living in small communities,
to develop higher level skills,. As part of this strategy, Aboriginal students are given grants
to study at NAIT and SAIT, and funds are allocated to the introduction of new programs.
Aboriginal Futures recognizes that the problem is not a lack of jobs in the north but rather
the challenge of accessing and keeping jobs.
Reid Warne: Imperial Oil
I believe there is a definite need for essential skills to aid development of a strong
professional workforce in the north (a professional being anyone taking pay for skilled work
services). Long-term jobs in the north associated with oil and gas production include those
that use construction and operations skills and the skills needed for administration and data
management. All jobs associated with construction and operations require well honed
essential skills. In addition to providing the basics for effective use of job related skills, it has
been demonstrated in other industrial settings that proficiency in essential skills increases
worker safety performance.
By enhancing the essential skills of workers in the north, individuals’ ability to compete and
win jobs, learn on the job, complete documentation correctly, read manuals and procedures,
think critically, and transition to other positions and operational areas within the region are
enhanced. To capture the benefits of integrating essentials skills into training it is important
that industry collaborate with training providers, through initiatives such as this workshop, to
help ensure training programs are relevant.
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