INDIGENOUS HAUL TRUCK PROGRAM
The Indigenous Haul Truck program provides opportunities for First Nations, Métis and Inuit people living in the Wood Buffalo region to get the training and skill needed to operate some of the largest machines used in the oil sands industry today. The program is a partnership between Keyano College and the Athabasca Tribal Council, who takes the extra steps to ensure each student has the skills necessary to gain employment from the companies that are waiting to hire successful graduates.
Sarah Archer and Denis Vezina, Keyano College instructors, had the pleasure of spending four weeks with the Indigenous Haul Truck Operator cohort. Sarah and Denis both have been instructing at Keyano College for over a decade.
“There are just some classes that mesh really well together early on and this was one of them. It was so great to see students supporting and encouraging each other,” said Sarah.
A typical day of the program consists of instruction and discussions as a group reviewing course materials, computerbased training (CBTs), watching information videos and participating in quizzes testing the students’ knowledge along the way. Of course, everyone’s favourite part of the day is training in the truck simulators, which offer a very realistic experience and prepare students for all different types of real-life scenarios that can and do happen on the work-site.
The Keyano instructors believed that many of the students were natural operators when it came to using the simulators. “Denis and I even joked that some of the students had done this before!” Sarah said.
Aside from the training, it was easy for them to connect with the students on a personal level. Sarah and Denis heard about students’ personal struggles and hardships, along with goals for the future and the many reasons for taking the program.
“The appreciation of this opportunity melted our hearts,” said Sarah.
When asked what the highlights of the program was for them, Sarah said: “A couple of highlights for us would be a student that told us she was doing this for her adult daughter who is soon going to college with plans of opening her own treatment center for Indigenous people. Another would be a student who was so nervous after writing his final exam that he called in on his lunch break to see if he would be allowed to rewrite it because he was so sure, he did not pass…guess what? He did pass it and we were able to share that with him over the phone. The relief and excitement in his voice was contagious!”
The program also offers students more than just the skills needed to do the job. ATC wants to ensure that graduates are prepared to apply for employment opportunities once they graduate, so a portion of the program is devoted to resumé and cover letter writing, as well as basic computer knowledge.
Every student in the Indigenous Haul Truck Operator cohort completed their training with employment waiting for them, which Sarah declared a success!
The Indigenous Haul Truck program is a partnership between Keyano College, Service Canada, Government of Alberta – Indigenous Relations, and Athabasca Tribal Council. The hiring partners in the project are Syncrude Canada Ltd, Suncor Energy, Tuccaro Group of Companies and Fort McKay Group of Companies.
