A future in the pulp and paper industry received a boost when Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership (CPLP) and College of New Caledonia (CNC) unveiled Monday a skills training partnership designed to allow new hires to hit the ground running.
Under the agreement, CNC will start delivering a second class power engineering program to complement the third and fourth class programs the school already teaches, but that may be only the beginning.
"We're talking about fundamentally changing how business and higher education work together to truly create real career opportunities," CPLP CEO Joe Nemeth said at a media event.
CNC and CPLP will design the programs and curriculums together, "so we're developing graduates that have the skills and knowledge that fit the vacancies that Canfor Pulp are hiring for," Nemeth said.
Further, students will be offered work experience so they'll gain practical skills at the job site along with the theory at school.
"Students will graduate with a resume not just a degree or diploma," Nemeth said.
Over the next 10 years, about half the 1,150 employees on CPLP's Prince George payroll will retire and they need to be replaced, Nemeth said, who added the company is looking to hire over 100 people in each of the next two years.
The first students should start by next year and CNC president John Bowman said they should eventually add up to a "significant" number. CPLP and CNC are also looking at training in mechanical and process technologies, process operations, and industrial trades including millwrights, pipefitters, industrial electricians and instrument technicians.
The agreement outlines an "action plan" with timelines meant to hold the parties to meeting particular goals and objectives.
"Oftentimes, organizations sign partnerships and don't back them up with a commitment to action," Bowman said. "And I think in this case both the college and Canfor Pulp are committed to achieving a number of very tangible and real outcomes as a result of working together."
Nemeth noted that 16 high school graduates also earned their first year of apprenticeship at CPLP after spending parts of Grades 11 and 12 at CNC.
"Probably our number one goal is to attract people who want to live in Prince George," Nemeth said.
And he maintained pulp and paper remains a viable industry.
"We have almost 1,200 people in the company, it is Canada's most profitable company in the forest industry and it's here to stay," Nemeth said.
