The mining industry is grappling with a growing talent crisis, driven by a combination of factors: an aging workforce and increasing retirements, a sharp decline in new entrants—particularly among younger generations—shrinking enrollment in post-secondary mining programs (with undergraduate mining engineering enrollment down 50 per cent from 2012 to 2023), a persistently low unemployment rate within the sector, and ongoing challenges in attracting and retaining talent from underrepresented groups.
A tight labour market is an increasingly significant obstacle for mining employers, driving up recruitment costs, wages, and increasing talent poaching among companies. Additionally, with changing geo-political and trading alliances, Canada needs to rapidly develop its critical mineral capacity to support itself and its allies. In fact, on March 4, 2025, Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial mines ministers issued a joint statement calling for the “acceleration of resource development to unlock new opportunities to meet the growing global demand for critical minerals”. Canada is well positioned to produce some of these key minerals and metals, but requires a highly skilled and mobile workforce to be able to capitalize on these opportunities.
Yet, with a tight Canadian mining labour market and a shrinking talent pipeline, efforts to engage young people in mining have not worked. In 2024, the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) looked to take a different approach to engage youth and potential job seekers by aiming to establish a coalition of partners to fund a five-year national mining career awareness campaign anchored by its successful Mining Needs You initiative. Mining Needs You showcases modern mining to youth with the goals of raising awareness of mining and its profile, supporting industry human resource efforts, and making mining a career of choice for students.
Members of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), and the World Gold Council partnered with the MiHR to expand Mining Needs You in 2025 to more broadly showcase to youth where they can build a career that aligns with their skills, passions, and values.
Young people aged 15 to 24 today are searching for where they belong—and the new Mining Needs You and its messaging focused on “find your place in mining” is designed to showcase the mining industry as a dynamic, innovative, and fulfilling career choice. By reframing mining as a high-tech, diverse, and evolving sector, the campaign aims to dismantle outdated perceptions and demonstrate that mining offers a place for everyone.
The new campaign will begin with a pilot project during May and June in Kamloops, B.C. and Saskatoon, Sask., where new ads will be displayed near schools through public transit and digital displays, along with geotargeted social media and audio streaming advertising to shift the focus from the industry’s needs to the potential of young people—empowering them to see how they can make an impact in a sector that fuels the modern world.
Results of the pilot project will be incorporated into a national roll-out of the campaign in September. In addition to the advertising and social media component, Mining Needs You will be featured at numerous career events, podcasts, and includes a Career Ambassador Program whereby industry representatives are recruited and trained to deliver presentations to elementary and high school students on their journeys in mining. The goal in 2025 is to have a minimum of 75 ambassadors who each deliver two presentations. The campaign’s I Chose Mining. Mining Chose Me. scholarship program also aims to showcase post-secondary youth and assist them on their journeys to rewarding mining careers.
By addressing the lack of awareness and the negative perceptions among youth of mining, creating materials that link to and support industry recruitment initiatives, and
aligning with the objectives of Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy and its Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan, the Mining Needs You campaign aims to increase the mining talent pipeline through a sustained campaign that stretches beyond 2025. Results of the first year of the campaign will be presented to current and potential partners in November and December 2025 with the aim to sustain funding into the new year. Visit MiningNeedsYou.ca for more information about the campaign and how to collaborate with MiHR on the initiative.
MiHR is Canada’s knowledge centre for mining labour market information. An independent, non-profit organization, MiHR leads collaboration among mining and exploration companies, organized labour, contractors, educational institutions, industry associations, and Indigenous groups to identify opportunities and address the human resource and labour market challenges facing the Canadian minerals and metals sector. Visit MiHR.ca to learn more.
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