$8M program will prep NWT workers for ‘low-carbon employment’

The NWT’s Mine Training Society says a new program worth more than $8 million will give nearly 2,000 northerners training to “transition to low-carbon employment.”

The cash was announced earlier this year. A Friday news conference provided more detail about the program and how it will roll out.

Sustainable North: Our Workforce, abbreviated to Snow, will give Indigenous northerners “hands-on training they need for good jobs in the low-carbon economy,” NWT MP and Crown-Indigenous relations minister Rebecca Alty was quoted as saying.

Rebecca Alty makes an announcement related to a Mine Training Society program on September 26, 2025. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio

Mine Training Society chief executive officer Annemieke Mulders stated the program will feature De Beers and Burgundy, operators of the territory’s Gahcho Kué and Ekati diamond mines respectively.

Here’s a quick guide to what we know about the program and how you can access it.

First, what does low-carbon employment mean?

The Mine Training Society’s leader of the Snow program, Steven Daniel, says Snow is about “giving people an opportunity to look at employment that exists in low-carbon opportunities that are going to take off in the next little while.”

He gave the example of biomass development and installation, where he said the NWT is currently a leader, alongside other types of electrical and thermal energy.

“There’s tons of opportunities here for employment and retooling themselves to basically see whether the skill sets that I have now, I can transfer this into a low-carbon economy and have long-term, meaningful employment,” he said.

So what’s the connection to mining?

Those ideas for types of future job have “nothing to do with mining” on their own, Daniel said.

But the Snow program is more broadly targeted at people who might currently be employed in mining – or a mining-related job – and who may need to look elsewhere when the big diamond mines close.

Diavik, one of the NWT’s three diamond mines, will close in 2026. Ekati has laid off hundreds of workers and its long-term future isn’t clear. Gahcho Kué has an expected mine life into the early 2030s.

“The Snow project is designed to meet the current and future needs of all northerners as we move towards a low-carbon economy,” said the Mine Training Society’s Gisele Mayordo.

“Particular emphasis will be placed on workers working in the NWT diamond mine industry and northern residents interested in pursuing new careers and job opportunities with sustainable energy and renewable energy.”

What is the program going to offer?

“We’re developing the curriculum and program of studies,” said Daniel.

So far, the Mine Training Society expects to roll out a course that combines classroom learning with hands-on activities.

“So when it comes to say, solar development, they’ll be given basic electrical backgrounds on how to install these things,” said Daniel, “but they will also have an opportunity to build small-scale, real-world, functional solar panel systems before they actually leave the course.”

An advisory committee of employers, industry representatives and community service agencies will “ensure that training programs are tailored to industry needs and that participants receive valuable, job-ready skills,” the federal government stated in a news release.

How do people sign up?

The Mine Training Society is not at that point yet, but we do have a sense of how you will be able to find out more later.

“We have a communications plan that we’re developing right now so we can roll this out to each of the 33 communities,” said Daniel.

The society will make at least one visit to each community over the course of the initial three-year project.

“This will give us an opportunity to work directly with community members on projects that are most beneficial to them,” Daniel continued.

“We’ve already identified – through consultations with our advisory board – that solar is going to be a focus here in the North, along with biomass. The other projects that we’re working on will roll out over time, but those are the two we’re focusing on right now to get out of the gate.

“Those are the ones that are of most interest, I think, to northerners, and we currently have the infrastructure to help support that.”

Watch the society’s website for more information.

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