I grew up in Northern Ontario, in a small city with a population of approximately 52,000 known as North Bay. Our teachers in high school always told us that the trades are the future, and that we will need to be more involved through programs – co-ops and classes in the industry, because plenty of high-quality jobs will start becoming available due to retirements in the various natural resource industries. For context, North Bay has over 25,000 labor workers in its city, nearly half of its population! Yet the average age for a resident in North Bay is 43, with an unfortunate declining workforce population due to the retirement of many people who worked hard to build some of North Bay’s top industries. In this article, I will be exploring the dire need for municipalities to support natural resource projects in order to bring in a younger workforce.
2016 Census reported that 1 out of every 4 workers in North Bay were over the age of 55. Over 9,200 people in North Bay are likely to retire in the next decade or so as they are over the age of 55. In the same census adjusted for size, the number of people working in rail transport is five times higher than the national average. 90% more people are employed in the mining industry in North Bay compared to the national economy, and the workforce for heavy and civil engineering construction is substantial. If the labor market becomes tighter, many of these strategically essential industries would have trouble finding good workers.
This unfortunate decline in the working population is becoming a trend across the natural resource labor industry in the city., A 2018 census shows that the workforce population of North Bay had dropped 9% since 2012, that’s over 3,200 people!
Another mind-blowing statistic from a census conducted in 2021 is that over 9,715 of its 52,000 citizens are aged between 15-29. This stat shows North Bay has a low youth & young adult rate, but also retiring demographics. Children aged 0-14 only make up about 7,600 in total within the city population.; these statistics show that North Bay has the potential to fill the jobs that are soon to become available for the next generation when the youth grow up and make the choice if they wanted to join the industry as a full-time career. If decision-makers as a group move towards more development in the sustained futures of the industries that built this city, there will be a future for the natural resource industry in North Bay. If you want to join the industry, but don’t have the skills, degrees, or qualifications required, there are several hundred apprenticeships and internships in North Bay that can teach you and help you secure the future job you want in your industry.
I personally have the view that labour work is crucial to the lifeblood of Canada. The people who work in these industries are vital to everything we as Canadians use daily, From mechanics to construction workers and beyond, skilled trades are needed in every aspect of daily life, and in North Bay labour thrives when the citizens of North Bay come together for a greater purpose. As I’ve seen with my own eyes, North Bay needs the natural resource industry and the natural resource industry feeds North Bay. It’s a positive relationship that I grew up seeing and will hopefully continue to see for the decades to come.
EXP
https://ca.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=1509a20d7b825292&tk=1h6jre7uekmfp800&from=serp&vjs=3
Infrastructure Co-op student
T.E. Parolin & Sons
Automotive Technician Apprentice
Stockfish Automotive Group
Apprentice Automotive Service Technician
Stantec
Structural Engineering Intern
North Bay is just one example of a great location for a long term career. We must remember that it is smaller communities like North Bay, Powassan and Calendar that fuel Canada’s natural resources and renewable future.
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