Boreal and Goldcorp team up to help future mechanics

Collège Boréal’s Timmins campus received an important donation impacting its Motive Power Techniques – Heavy Equipment program.

GoldCorp – Porcupine Gold Mines donated 23 pieces of equipment. And it includes three scoop trams, three side by side vehicles, two Miller trucks, two standard transmissions, one gear box, two straight axel differentials, one MSHA diesel engine, one Manitou fork lift, one small Kubota hydraulic excavator, one mini CAT TM differential with internal brakes, two iVECO 4 cylinder diesel engines, two Cummins 4.5 engines (model QSB), one differential with brake disk, and one differential with internal brake and external planetary final drive.

Operations at Porcupine Gold Mines include the Hoyle Pond Mine in Porcupine, the Dome Mine and Mill facility in South Porcupine along with the Hollinger Pit which operates directly within the City of Timmins.

According to the recently published report Local Labour Market Forecast 2011-2031 by the Far Northeast Training Board (FNETB), the impact of the upcoming retirement of the last wave of the baby boomer generation will have major impacts on the Northeastern Ontario labour market by 2031. In Timmins, the demand for qualified workers is expected to be the highest in Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators, and related fields following the retirement of 1,954 workers within the next twenty years.

In Collège Boréal’s Motive Power Techniques – Heavy Equipment program, students learn to repair and maintain diesel engines and various components for industrial, agricultural, forestry, and construction machinery. Collège Boréal is the only college in Ontario to offer this program in French. It is available in Timmins and Sudbury.

“Collège Boréal works closely with several local stakeholders to understand the challenges as they relate to training and employment across Ontario,” says College Boreal President Pierre Riopel, “Thanks to our partnerships, we continue to seize every opportunity to grow and support the workforce of tomorrow.”

“Collège Boréal is committed to providing quality training programs based on the needs of the local labour market,” added Jean-Pierre Nadon, Director of the Timmins campus, “This equipment allows us to increase the number of experiential learning opportunities for our students, thus better preparing them for the future.”

“Porcupine Gold Mines is strongly committed to community involvement. We are thrilled to work with Collège Boréal in order to help train the local workforce,” says Goldcorp Maintenance Superintendant Mario Lachance.