Wednesday, February 26, 2025

What’s CLAC Doing Up North?

For the past year, CLAC has been conducting an awareness campaign in the north to showcase what the union, its signatory contractors, and skilled members can bring to northern development

Newsletters Ontario Construction

By Andrew Regnerus, Ontario Construction Coordinator

I write this as I sit in the Valhalla hotel in northern Ontario, my flight delayed by the recent snow and ice storm in the south. It is bright, sunny, and cold here (-400 C overnight), but planes cannot get out of Pearson International Airport.

There is work in the north, a region brimming with high-value precious metals, such as gold, which is nearing $4,000 per ounce. After years of unmet potential, the region, known as the Ring of Fire, is finally edging toward mining readiness.

CLAC members are working on a few mines today and have been part of some three dozen scopes of work in mining construction. One project, the Côté Gold project, an open-pit gold mine, is now transitioning from construction to operations. We had some 700 members employed by a handful of CLAC-signatory contractors at work there over the last few years.

Other members working in the north are involved in highway maintenance while others are building infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and water and wastewater treatment plants. Some are involved in major commercial construction work.

But it’s the mining work that mostly drives CLAC’s presence in the north. This is very sensitive work as it takes place on or near reserve land.

Building mines disrupts hunting, fishing, and pristine nature. Before the work begins, agreements are negotiated between the mine owners and Indigenous groups to ensure First Nations communities benefit from the work involved in extracting resources. These benefits include training and employment opportunities for Indigenous communities. When a CLAC-signatory contractor wins a contract for a scope of work, we have a role in delivering training and guiding local northern and Indigenous workers toward job opportunities.

Because there is understandable distrust of people from the south, CLAC has been working on an awareness campaign. At the same time, we are becoming sensitive to issues that present barriers to cooperation and engagement of First Nation groups.

We started by engaging a northern Indigenous firm, Firedog Communications, in late 2023 to provide us some thought leadership. They helped us assess our web presence and messaging for sensitivity. They guided us on advertising content and which platforms to use (like airport ads) and helped us create literature that speaks to northern and Indigenous communities’ concerns.

In 2024, we began attending events related to mining, Indigenous relations, northern economic development, and government relations. These events were held by groups such as the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), the First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC), and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association.

Our dance card is pretty full in 2025 as we will be attending 12 conference events to support northern awareness. One third will be in the north, one-third in the near north, and one-third in the south.

Our representatives will allocate a combined 80 days to learning the issues and meeting with the people and community leaders. Our goal is to enhance awareness among the decision makers and influencers up north of what CLAC, its signatory contractors, and skilled members can bring to northern development.

Indigenous people are a growing economic and political force. They take seriously their job to steward the land. We must acknowledge that if we are to be part of the mining economy here, we must help local communities flourish. We also need to make it smoother for members in the south to work here when their employers ask them to work a rotation at a mine project.

Stay tuned for continued updates as we engage with northern and Indigenous communities. We expect members will have many more opportunities this year to bring their skills to bear on projects in northern Ontario.

PIctured below

Andrew Regnerus (Ontario construction coordinator), Gord O’Coin (Sudbury Member Centre regional director), and Matthew Walchuk (representative) attended the 2025 Prosperity Northwest conference, co-hosted by the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce and the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association.

What’s CLAC Doing Up North?

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