Mining

Overview

Mining is a major part of Canada’s economy. Canada is one of the largest mining countries in the world, producing more than 60 minerals and metals.

The Specialist High Skills Major in Mining (SHSM–Mining) helps students to build a foundation of sector-focused knowledge and skills before graduating and entering apprenticeship training, college, university or an entry-level position in the workplace.

This SHSM program has 5 required components:

• bundle of 9 credits
• certifications and training recognized by the mining sector
• experiential learning and career exploration activities
• reach ahead experiences
• sector-partnered experiences (SPEs)

Find a list of some of the careers that this SHSM can lead to.

Variants of this SHSM

The SHSM–Mining can focus on a specific area (for example, environmental stewardship in mining, mineral mining, metal mining or technology and innovation in mining) by varying the mix of its 4 major credits.

Where local circumstances allow, your school board may offer 1 or more variants of this SHSM.

Bundle of 9 credits

The SHSM–Mining requires students to complete a bundle of 9 Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits, made up of 4 major credits, 3 other required credits and 2 cooperative education (co-op) credits.

These credits are required for all students, regardless of the pathway a student chooses after graduation:

• apprenticeship training
• college
• university
• the workplace

Four major credits

These credits provide mining-specific knowledge and skills.

These 4 credits:

• can be any combination of Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits
• may include up to 3 mining-related co-op credits (these are additional to the 2 required co-op credits in the bundle)

We (the Ministry of Education) maintain an SHSM-approved course list for the mining sector. Contact the SHSM lead at your school board to get the list.

Three other required credits

These are required credits from the Ontario curriculum.

These 3 credits must include:

• one English credit (a compulsory English credit is required in Grade 11 and Grade 12 to graduate)
• one mathematics credit
• one of the following:
  • Canadian and world studies credit
  • science
  • additional major credit
  • additional mining-related co-op credit (in addition to the 2 co-op credits required in the bundle)

Your school may commit to including a contextualized learning activity (CLA) for the mining sector in each of these 3 credits. If your school offers this, then:

• some of the course expectations for these credits are met through the CLA
• your school decides if the CLA for English is completed in Grade 11 or in Grade 12

Even if your school does not formally commit to including CLAs, it can still offer them in 1 or more of these credits.

Two cooperative education (co-op) credits

Co-op credits in the mining SHSM provide students with real learning experiences in a mining workplace setting. This lets students refine, extend, apply and practice:

• knowledge and skills they learned in the cooperative education curriculum
• mining-specific knowledge and skills learned through their SHSM program

Certifications and training

Students must complete 4 compulsory and 3 elective certifications and/or training courses/programs that are recognized by the mining sector.

Compulsory certifications and training

Students must complete:

• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Level C — includes automated external defibrillation (AED)
• General Safety Awareness (GSA)
• Standard First Aid
• Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) — generic, not site-specific, instruction

These are the proper names of the specific certifications or training courses/programs for this SHSM.

Elective certifications and training

These are names of an area, type or category of training. In these cases, your school board selects the specific certifications or training courses and programs.

Students must complete any 3 of the following electives:

• advanced training in a technique
• advanced training in a technology
• anti-oppression and allyship training
• basic electrical safety
• chainsaw safety
• compass/map/global positioning system (GPS)
• confined space awareness
• customer service
• elevated work platforms
• environmental impacts
• fall protection
• fire safety and fire extinguisher use
• first aid/CPR/AED awareness
• hoisting and rigging
• infection control
• ladder safety training
• land and forest survey skills
• leadership skills
• lockout/tagging
• portfolio development
• powder-actuated tools
• project management
• radio operator
• sector-specific vehicle operation and safety
• surface and underground orientation
• suspended access equipment
• trenching safety
• working at heights

Learn more about certification and training in SHSM programs.

Experiential learning and career exploration activities

Experiential learning and career exploration opportunities relevant to the mining sector might include instances where an SHSM student:

• observes a co-op student one-on-one at a placement in the mining sector (an example of job twinning)
• shadows a mining skilled tradesperson for a day (an example of job shadowing)
• works with a member of a mining industry association or professional for 1 or 2 weeks (an example of work experience)
• goes on a field trip to an industry site
• attends a conference or symposium related to the mining sector
• participates in a Mine Rescue competition
• attends an orientation to engineering day at a university to promote careers in engineering

Learn more about SHSM program experiential learning and career exploration opportunities.

Reach ahead experiences

The SHSM-Mining must provide students with 1 or more reach ahead experiences. These are opportunities to take the next steps along their chosen pathway – as shown in the following examples:

• apprenticeship: visiting an approved apprenticeship delivery agent in the mining sector
• college: interviewing a college student enrolled in a mining-specific program
• university: observing a university class in a mining-related program
• workplace: interviewing an employee in the mining sector

Learn more about reach ahead experiences.

Sector-partnered experiences (SPEs)

Students engage with a sector partner to learn about mining and how it connects with ICE (innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship), coding and/or math literacy skills.

Learn more about SPEs in SHSM programs.

Careers in the mining sector

These are examples of careers in the mining sector, sorted by the type of postsecondary education or training the careers usually require.

Information and resources

Partnership opportunities

For local labour market opportunities in mining, please contact your school board’s SHSM lead.

The SHSM model

This SHSM’s requirements are unique and geared to the mining sector. However, the design of all SHSM programs follows a consistent model with 5 required components.

Find more information about the components of an SHSM.

Resources

Checklist for planning and delivering an SPE