Durham College’s (DC) Academic Upgrading office is delighted to announce the successful completion of the Introduction to Millwright project at the Ontario Power Generation (OPG) Darlington Energy Complex.

The six-week training program was delivered to a cohort of eight individuals from Indigenous communities in the area who made significant life changes to commit to the program with the goal of being successfully indentured into the Millwright Regional Council of Ontario (MRCO) as first year apprentices.

The program consisted of two weeks of in-class academic upgrading to prepare students for the communications, math and spatial reasoning segments of the Millwright aptitude test, as well as a four-week Introduction to Millwrighting course delivered by qualified MRCO sister training instructors with weekly support from the Academic Upgrading team.

In addition to DC’s Academic Upgrading program, the following organizations were involved in the creation, funding and delivery of the Introduction to Millwright project:

• Aboriginal Apprenticeship Board of Ontario
• First Nations Power Authority
• Indigenous Opportunities Network
• Kigita Mikam Aboriginal Employment & Training
• Millwright Local 2309
• Millwright Regional Council of Ontario
• OPG
• Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries

This successful partnership between DC, industry, union and community-based organizations is a testament to what can be accomplished when there is a demonstrated commitment to improving opportunities for Indigenous candidates into the trades.