One of the facets of the recently released Saskatchewan Labour Market Strategy is preparing residents for jobs and increasing Indigenous participation in the growing workforce. To that end, the province is investing $400,000 and has signed a partnership with the Saskatchewan First Nations Natural Resource Centre of Excellence to conduct a needs assessment, and to identify barriers and develop strategies to connect prospective employees to jobs in the natural resource and sustainable energy development sectors.

Centre of Excellence President and CEO, Sheldon Wuttunee, says, “We are constantly working toward creating a future where our communities are valued partners and thriving in the energy resource sector.”  The funding will support engagement of Indigenous communities, organizations, educational institutions and industry to inform and recommend program delivery options. A needs assessment will identify any barriers. “How do we start to prepare our young people when they are in their early years in elementary school, to ensure they have adequate and top notch resources – access to appropriate computer labs, access to internet connectivity.” Wuttunee says those are important pieces that often create barriers that go unnoticed.

Immigration and Career Training Minister Jeremy Harrison says, “Partnerships such as this help create new opportunities and ensure the Indigenous workforce has every opportunity to benefit from the jobs being created by Saskatchewan’s strong and growing economy.” He adds that the government wants to make sure what the future looks like in this province is going to be meaningful economic reconciliation and ultimately economic sovereignty for First Nations people, First Nations governments.  Harrison stresses, “This is going to be what the future looks like. It has to be what the future looks like.”