A new marine training facility has been announced to be established in a section of the old headquarters building of the defunct Northern Transportation Company Ltd. (NTCL).
In a Feb. 2 news release, the federal government said it is funding the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium to establish the facility in partnership with the GNWT.
Infrastructure Minister Wally Schumann welcomes the new facility.
With federal funding, the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium will upgrade the building to be able to use it.
"They want to be open in the springtime," said Schumann. "They've got a lot of work to do. This is early days, yet. We're going to get going on the building part of it. They're going to give us some money to do the changes they want. So it will be local contractors looking after all that sort of stuff."
Transport Canada, under the federal government's Oceans Protection Plan, is providing $12.6 million over three years to the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium to deliver a marine training program across the North.
In addition to the new facility in Hay River, the consortium will also expand its existing training program in Nunavut and Nunavik.
Schumann said the consortium is expecting to start out with three instructors in Hay River.
"Depending on future demands, they'll decide if they need to ramp that up or not," he said. "They want to try to hire NWT qualified residents that can be instructors. If they can't find any of them, they're willing to train NWT residents to be instructors at that site as well moving forward."
Schumann said the new training facility will be good for the fisheries and the GNWT's Marine Transportation Services (MTS), which took over the barging operations of NTCL.
Plus, he said more trained workers will be good for organizations such as the Canadian Coast Guard, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and private companies.
Mayor Brad Mapes welcomed the announcement of the new training facility.
"It's going to be great for our community," he said, pointing to the fisheries and barging on the Mackenzie River. "A school of that type would definitely give some hope for our young people and our residents to look at that as an option for a career."
Plus, Mapes said it's always a benefit to the community whenever a use is found for a building that is not being utilized.
Schumann hopes that more use can be made of the old NTCL headquarters.
"I think now that we've got a core customer that's in there, there will be other opportunities down the road," he said.
The territorial government bought the assets of NTCL in December 2016 – including the old headquarters building.
In the legislative assembly on Feb. 9, Hay River North MLA R.J. Simpson asked Schumann about the new training facility, in particular what kind of training will be offered.
"Right now, there is a needs assessment underway for courses that are appropriate for the required training," said Schumann, the Hay River South MLA. "As these guys operate out of Nunavut, and now moving to the Northwest Territories, we are going to have to have a look at the situation in the NWT around the fishers and, in particular, the Marine Transportation Services that we run up and down the river."
The minister noted they will be Transport Canada certified courses.
Simpson also asked who would pay for the courses.
"Since the GNWT employs only a handful of people at MTS and the rest are contracted out, I wonder who will pay for these employees who are employed by the contractor, if it's going to have to come out of the employee's own pocket," he said. "Then there are the fishermen. Will the training be through the revitalization strategy? There are a lot of questions. Considering all of that, what will the costs of training be, and who will pay for the training?"
Schumann replied that it will be fully funded by Transport Canada.
"The costs there will be totally absorbed by Transport Canada," he said. "It will be an application-based process, and screening will be made to suitable candidates who will be able to take these courses. Once an applicant is accepted, there will be no costs to the student."
Schumann could not provide an estimate on how many students might go through the training facility.
"They are rolling out with three instructors and, as demand fluctuates up or down, I guess that will depend on the market and the need for this type of training," he said. "I would not be surprised even if we see people from outside our jurisdiction who possibly want to get into the marine industry come and enroll in this program once they find out it is there. However, as I said, this is early days. We will have to see what it brings."