Labour & Employment Issues In The Mining Sector

Ontario has approximately 40 underground mines, with about 25,000 workers, located mostly in Northern Ontario. Minerals such as copper, nickel, gold and other precious metals, diamonds, salt and gypsum are extracted. Ontario also has several thousand surface open pits, quarries, sand and gravel operations, with about 10,000 workers. Minerals such as gold, as well as material such as limestone, sand and gravel are extracted from them.

With over 35,000 employees, labour and employment issues are obviously of central importance to the mining sector, both in terms of health and safety and managing employees for optimal performance, safety and efficiency. In 2018, 2,115 critical injuries were reported to the Ministry of Labour — 1,760 of those were industrial, 324 were in construction, and 31 were in the mining sector.