Points Athabasca was established in 1999 to help empower First Nations communities and foster regional prosperity in the Athabasca region of Northern Saskatchewan.
Since then, the full-service contractor for civil, industrial, and mining construction and maintenance services has compiled an impressive portfolio of successful projects in the province totaling more than $700 million.
Athabasca Basin Development, an investment company owned by seven, largely Dene First Nations communities in Saskatchewan’s Lake Athabasca area, owns 75 per cent of Points Athabasca.
President and CEO John Scarfe says two core principals at Points Athabasca – building capacity, and building beyond the project — speak to the company’s commitment to engage people in Indigenous communities. By training, mentoring, and employing local people, Points Athabasca continues to make a lasting impact on those communities where it works. The company’s northern owners also reap financial benefits in the form of increased share value and dividends.
As an example, Scarfe points to Cigar Lake Mine, a Cameco operation in the Athabasca Basin that is one of the largest high-grade uranium mines in the world.
Since 2003, as part of a contract to provide ongoing site services and maintenance at the mine, Points Athabasca has been responsible for sourcing and supplying people to fill ongoing temporary and permanent positions there — everything from labourers and skilled tradespeople to administrative personnel and management.
Local community participation was essential for this contract, and as a result, more than 90 per cent of these employees have been Indigenous.
In 2012, Points Athabasca was also awarded a contract to complete the overall surface development of the Cigar Lake Mine by constructing and commissioning ore load-out facilities, warehousing buildings and a maintenance shop, buried and surface utilities installations or upgrades, and site services support. More than 50 per cent of the workers for these projects were from local First Nations communities.
According to Scarfe, 150 people who worked on the Points Athabasca projects at Cigar Lake ended up getting permanent jobs with Cameco.
“We look at this as a really positive thing,” says Scarfe, pointing out that part of Points Athabasca’s mandate is to be a resource for companies seeking to hire long-term Indigenous employees.
Addressing the special needs of the mining industry takes a highly specialized team with proven experience. After almost 20 years of servicing Saskatchewan’s mining sector, Points Athabasca offers extensive experience and expertise in the following areas:
- Underground infrastructure projects
- Mine maintenance projects
- Mine salvage
- Shotcrete and grouting services
- Surface tailings facility management
- Berm and road construction
- Stockpile management
Points Athabasca also provides a broad range of services for industrial construction and maintenance, including:
- Structural steel installations
- Piping
- Concrete installations
- Scaffolding
- Fencing
- Sand-blasting
- Solar power installations
Road and highway construction is another speciality for Points Athabasca, which has helped build and maintain hundreds of kilometres of paved, gravel, and winter ice roads in Saskatchewan.
Points Athabasca is also looking to diversify its market base and expand beyond Saskatchewan into Alberta and Manitoba. The goal is to forge many new partnerships with clients to design, build, operate, and maintain projects across Western Canada.
“We’re going to try to find opportunities that make sense for us,” Scarfe says.
Given Points Athabasca’s successful track record, it’s easy to see why many of these new opportunities could lie with the growing number of companies, government agencies, and other organizations that are looking for ways to support Canada’s Indigenous communities.
