MACKENZIE – On March 29, 2014, the McLeod Lake Indian Band (MLIB), Duz Cho Group of Companies, Northern Lights College (NLC), and the College of New Caledonia (Mackenzie Campus) signed a five-year agreement to offer Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO) training.
This dynamic partnership has developed an exceptional program that has a minimum of 90 hours of classroom training, 300 hours of field training, and 10 safety certifications.
Three variations of the 12-week HEO training will be offered, and each offering will have the capacity for 12 students:
- Civil earthwork – excavator/trucks
- Civil earthwork – cat/scraper
- Logging-related equipment.
The first variation will start in Mackenzie on May 5. Practical equipment training options for this variation will include two of the following machines: excavator, 30-ton rock truck, D8 Cat, D6 Cat, grader or packer.
This HEO partnership is built on the colleges’ ability to offer instructional expertise while maintaining industry standards and on McLeod Lake Indian Band and Duz Cho Group of Companies providing the majority of the equipment, the land or timber area, and quality in-field supervision.
Through this innovative partnership, graduates will develop a thorough understanding of, and the skills related to, all aspects of heavy equipment operations in the training session attended. Graduate employment opportunities are high with Duz Cho and other industry sponsors.
This HEO program has a foundation of core curriculum rooted in approved Industry Training Authority guidelines. Also included in the training will be a grounding in awareness and understanding of Aboriginal values and considerations in civil earthwork, timber supply areas, and the development of Crown lands for resource extraction. Further, training will be provided to support diversity and interculturalization in industrial settings.
More training opportunities will occur for the other variations and with NLC in the Chetwynd region. No dates are scheduled as yet for Chetwynd courses. To have your name placed on an interest list, contact Campus Services at the Chetwynd Campus at 250-788-2248.