Whitesand's Bioenergy Project
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Whitesand’s BioEnergy Project Report prepared by: Andrew Bieler, PhD Meagan Trush Joey Brooke Jakob, PhD February 22, 2019 This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 4 1.1 Overview 4 1.2 How to Read this Report 4 2. Project Overview 5 3. Project Context 5 3.1 Whitesand First Nation 6 3.2 Bioenergy Project 6 3.3 Whitesand’s population 7 3.4 The Skills and Training Ecosystem 8 3.5 Conceptual Framework for BioEnergy Plant Skills Development 9 4. Methods and Approach 12 4.1 Research Questions 12 4.2 Approach to Environmental Scan 12 4.3 Stakeholder Consultations 13 5. Environmental Scan 14 5.1 Demand-led Workforce Development in Indigenous Communities 14 5.2 Innovative Workforce Development Models 15 5.3 Approaches to Indigenous Apprenticeship 17 5.4 Job Requirement Approach (JRA) 19 5.5 Community Based Enterprise, Cooperatives, and Indigenous Entrepreneurship Networks 20 5.6 Environmental Scan Conclusions 23 6. Labour Market Needs 23 6.1 Overview 23 6.2 Whitesand Bioenergy Plant 23 Project Management 24 Construction 24 6.3 Summary of Training Needs 25 7. Supply of Skills and Talent 25 Whitesand First Nation // 2 7.1 Participation in Education 25 8. Perceived Training and Community Needs 27 8.1 Formal Learning Assets and Gaps 27 8.2 Wrap-around Supports: Health,Wellness and Transportation Services 30 9. Conclusion 31 References 31 Appendix 1: Timeline 37 Appendix 2: Job Requirements Summary 39 Administrative Management 39 Co-Generation 39 Harvesting 40 Wood Pellet Plant 40 Wood Yard 41 Whitesand First Nation // 3 1. Introduction 1.1 Overview This report reviews employment and training needs and opportunities at Whitesand First Nation. The report includes a summary of stakeholder consultations on employment and training needs, as well as an environmental scan focused on demand-led workforce development in Indigenous communities. This report also builds on existing data and labour market research on Whitesand First Nation. This report ● Provides an overview of conceptual frameworks which inform the project; ● Examines the local context and stakeholders needed for a successful strategy including interdependent sustainability pillars of economy, society, ecology, culture, and capacity; ● Provides analysis of local labour market needs for the proposed Bioenergy Plant, including expected job descriptions and skill profiles; ● Analyses the existing supply of skills and talent in the community drawing on a variety of sources including local labour market data; ● Identifies innovative approaches and opportunities to develop skills which integrate Indigenous knowledge and learning principles alongside trade specific skills; and ● Identifies gaps in planned to actual activities related to the proposed Bioenergy Plant and associated human resources strategy. 1.2 How to Read this Report This report addresses the following questions: 1) How can demand-led approaches to workforce development contribute to the five pillars of the community sustainability initiative? 2) What are the key training needs that will have to be addressed to align the local skills supply with current estimations of the number and type of employment opportunities that are projected for the BioEnergy Project? 3) What are the characteristics of the local skills supply at Whitesand First Nation? 4) What are the key assets and gaps in employment and training resources at Whitesand First Nation? If you are interested in question 1, please turn to our environmental scan of demand-led approaches to workforce development in Indigenous contexts in section 5. This section includes an environmental scan focused on promising approaches to workforce development in Indigenous communities. We address question 2 in section 6, which offers a summary analysis of projected employment opportunities at the BioEnergy Plant based on administrative data and draft job descriptions. To address question 3 in section 7, we review available census and Statistics Canada data as well as survey results. Finally, section 8 reviews insights from stakeholder consultations regarding capacity building in employment and training at Whitesand First Nation. In section 2, we offer an overview of this project. In section 3, we offer a discussion of the Community Whitesand First Nation // 4 Sustainability Initiative, the aims of the project, and a description of the community context. We introduce the approach to the environmental scan and stakeholder consultations in section 4. Finally, a conclusion is offered in section 9. 2. Project Overview This research study is intended to support the development of workforce development programming at Whitesand First Nation. In particular, the study supports the development of demand-led approaches to workforce development to meet the needs of Whitesand’s BioEnergy Plant. The community is currently in the process of building a Bioenergy Centre that consists of three components; a pellet manufacturing plant, a cogen plant, and a wood yard. There are approximately 70 positions needed to operate these facilities. Whitesand First Nation faces the challenge of preparing their community members for the new employment opportunities. Responding to this challenge, Whitesand First Nation designed a workforce development project to support the Community Sustainability Initiative (CSI) and address current challenges in the target population, including the high unemployment rate, low rates of self esteem, and low levels of access to education as well as low levels of educational attainment. In responding to these challenges, the project aimed to map out the existing and potential talent in the community and then build programs that align this nascent talent to the labour needs of the Bioenergy project. This project consisted of the following: a) capacity building for professional workforce development to meet the labour force needs of the Bioenergy Plant; and b) development of training pathways for community members to acquire the skills needed for positions at the Bioenergy Centre. However, this workforce development project was not undertaken as planned because the Bioenergy Plant it was intended to support was delayed. This report offers strategic research support to future workforce development programming at Whitesand First Nation. It includes the following: a) developing a conceptual framework for future workforce development programs in the community; b) reviewing existing research on innovative models of workforce development in Indigenous communities; c) reviewing existing labour market information on Whitesand First Nation; d) summarizing projected training needs for the BioEnergy Plant, skills available in the community, and employment aspirations of community members. In the following, we begin with an introduction of the community context in which this research was undertaken. 3. Project Context Workforce development programming to meet the needs of Whitesand’s BioEnergy Project will have to address the unique capacity building and skills development challenges in this community. On this note, previous research on workforce development in Indigenous communities has identified a number of challenges to workforce development. Communities lack base required skills from which employers can draw upon or the capacity to provide basic levels of education and training. They may also face issues associated with “brain drain” particularly when young people leave the community to pursue educational or Whitesand First Nation // 5 employment opportunities, often not to return. Employers may have limited resources and expertise in terms of the recruitment and development of talent (Cook et al., 2017) or lack the competencies to deal effectively with Indigenous partners. Additionally, partnerships between First Nations and the Canadian Government may be fraught (as discussed by Cook et al., Renewable Energy BC, 2017). Our analysis of the context of the Whitesand community identified a number of relevant features of the community in terms of the key stakeholders, institutions, service providers, and history. In the following, we review those features most relevant to the development of future programming at Whitesand First Nation. 3.1 Whitesand First Nation Whitesand First Nation is an Ojibwa First Nation. It is located 246 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The nation was originally situated near the Whitesand river, but moved north of Armstrong along the CNR rail line as a result of the flooding of the original community. Currently, it is located near the northern tip of Lake Nipigon and has a land base of 615 acres, with an on-reserve population of 301 and a total membership of 1,214. Most of the population is between the ages of 19 and 60. Cultural activities include bingo, sweat lodges, dark-room ceremonies, pow wows, crafts, and beading every month. Community members can participate in arts and crafts, cooking classes, and other workshops. Health promotion programs are offered through through Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, including grief counselling, elders counselling, diabetes programs, and child welfare. Employers include the Band Office, Sagatay, which is Whitesand’s Economic Development Corporation, Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, Ontario Works, and a child care facility. There is also a small tourism sector centred around Wabakimi Provincial Park. A handful of hotels, grocery stores, convenience stores, and gas bars make up the retail and service