Feroz Shah with Franco-Nevada
CEO Paul Brink. Credit: Franco-Nevada
Canada’s mining, metals, oil and gas industries remain pillars of the national economy, but the workforce behind them is aging fast. Years of bust cycles and waning interest in the trades have left the sector short of talent, a gap now colliding with surging demand and the so-called “grey tsunami.”
“We lost a lot of the labour force 10 years ago and there hadn’t been jobs to replace them,” said Heather Exner-Pirot, director of the Natural Resources, Energy and Environment program at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an Ottawa-based public policy think tank.
However, the resource industry is entering a period of growth, fuelled by increased demand for critical minerals and government-backed investments in the sector.
Feroz Shah won Franco-Nevada’s first diversity scholarship in 2021, supporting his four-year bachelor’s degree in mineral engineering at the University of Toronto. Credit: Franco-Nevada
In the first quarter of 2025, nominal GDP from natural resources climbed to $358 billion (US$259 billion), equal to 12% of Canada’s economy. That same quarter, real GDP for the extractive industries grew 2% compared to the overall economy, which rose just 0.2% in the quarter — underscoring the sector’s outsized role in exports, jobs, and regional investment.
More than 100,000 new workers will be needed by 2035 to replace retirees and sustain growth, the Mining Association of Canada projects.
The industries underpin exports, anchor regional employment, and offer some of Canada’s top-paying jobs. Rising global demand for critical minerals and an aging workforce are creating both pressure and opportunity, while scholarships and Canadian training programs are opening doors for the next cohort of resource workers.
“These are foundational sectors that support so many other parts of the economy,” Exner-Pirot said. “The Canadian economy could not sustain itself without exporting resources.”
The footprint of mining, metals, and energy extends far beyond the mines and rigs. Communities, trade networks, and innovation hubs all depend on the activity generated by these sectors, underscoring why Canada’s resources remain critical to the country’s economic future, Exner-Pirot said.
Economic cornerstone
Canada’s resource sector has long powered the national economy. Mining and metals built export markets through the 20th century, fueling industrial growth and the expansion of rail, road, and port networks. Oil and gas discoveries in Alberta and Saskatchewan in the 1940s and 1950s transformed local economies, creating high-wage jobs and funding infrastructure and public services.
The industry’s reach and output remain substantial. According to Statistics Canada’s most recent data, natural resources contributed $464 billion to Canada’s GDP in 2023 – roughly 21% of the economy – and supported more than 3 million jobs, or 15% of the workforce. Resource exports generated $377 billion, nearly half of the country’s merchandise trade.
According to the Mining Association of Canada, more than 200 mines operate across Canada, yielding over 60 minerals and metals, including Saskatchewan potash and uranium, Northwest Territories diamonds, and Manitoba cobalt, nickel, and zinc, not to mention gold and copper from Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
Positioned for growth
Global demand for low-carbon technologies and renewable energy is set to send critical mineral production soaring. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects demand for minerals in energy technologies will top 40 million tonnes annually by 2030, up from just 7 million tonnes in 2020.
Canada is poised to grab a larger share of that market. More than 130 mining and processing projects are planned or under construction across the country over the next five years, with a combined value exceeding $117 billion, according to Natural Resources Canada.
Government support, including $700 million in investments, has boosted key critical mineral output 15%, with a 20% target set for 2030.
Oil and gas remain a cornerstone of domestic and export markets. Canada’s oil sands output is expected to hit 3.5 million barrels per day this year, supported by capital investment climbing to $39.7 billion.
Expansions in infrastructure, including the Trans Mountain pipeline, are boosting export capacity and accelerating development across the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
The stage is set for Canada to expand both its resource output and its economic footprint, creating jobs, supporting regional economies, and cementing the country’s role in supplying the global energy transition.
Job demand
With production and investment on the rise, the resource sector is generating not just economic output but also career opportunities. Analysts say demand for skilled workers will grow alongside exploration, processing and critical mineral projects, creating openings across mining, metals, and oil and gas.
Canada’s aging workforce adds urgency to hiring. As veteran workers retire, companies are actively seeking engineers, geologists, technicians, and operators, along with specialists in emerging areas like automation, digital mining and sustainable energy integration.
These sectors are evolving rapidly, and the demand for skilled, trained workers is only going to accelerate, Exner-Pirot said.
“It is becoming more attractive for young people that people aren’t as naive or ideological about resource extraction.”
Growth and impact
For young Canadians entering the workforce, the resource industry offers not just jobs, but long-term careers with opportunities for growth and impact.
“Oil and gas and mining are very high-paying sectors,” she said. “The wages will often be triple the median Canadian wage.”
According to data compiled by The Northern Miner, median wages in mining outpace most skilled trades. Miners earn roughly $40 an hour, ahead of electricians, plumbers, and millwrights, while mining engineers command a median $52.88 per hour – on par with software engineers and higher than their electrical, civil, and mechanical counterparts.
“You are making good money and can afford to have your own house and a family,” Exner-Pirot said. “Those are fundamental things in human society, and it seems like the trades and resource extraction are becoming more attractive for that route.”
Key opportunity
To meet the looming workforce needs, the industry is investing in programs that turn students into the skilled operators, engineers, and geologists Canada’s resource economy requires.
Feroz Shah was the first recipient of Franco-Nevada Corporation’s Diversity Scholarship in 2021, which supported his four-year bachelor’s degree in mineral engineering at the Lassonde Institute of Mining, University of Toronto.
“The series of opportunities I’ve had since then is just remarkable,” Shah said. “My first summer, I got to go to Alberta and work out West. My second summer, I was out in northern Labrador working for Rio Tinto at their iron ore operation. That third summer, I was down south working with Freeport-McMoran in Arizona.”
Shah, who won first place at the 2024 Canadian Mining Games in Sudbury for his speech on how to attract top talent to mining, said the industry is dogged by an outdated reputation. He argues the roles are as diverse and technologically innovative as those in other industries.
“There’s this cultural notion that like mining’s this very antiquated, dirty profession,” Shah said. “But people who have already worked in it know it’s not.”
Advanced learning
Canada’s mining, oil and gas education pipeline continues to feed the sector with engineers, geologists, technicians and skilled operators. Programs combine classroom learning with hands-on fieldwork, co-op placements and industry partnerships, increasingly focusing on digital mining, automation and sustainable resource practices.
The University of British Columbia, Queen’s University, Laurentian University, McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of Calgary and the British Columbia Institute of Technology host some of the country’s top mine engineering and mineral processing programs.
New roles are emerging as both mining and petroleum operations modernize. At UBC, the Data Sciences Institute is digitizing geological data to optimize mineral processing, showing how analytics and automation are becoming core to resource extraction across mines and oilfields alike.
Meanwhile, roles such as remote operations specialists and mine robotics engineers are on the rise, reflecting the sector’s pivot toward tech-driven, more efficient and safer operations.
As Canada’s resource sectors expand, the spotlight is on the people who will drive the next wave of growth. Scholarships, hands-on programs and tech-forward training are shaping a generation of engineers and specialists ready to meet the sector’s evolving challenges. They’re illustrating what’s possible for young Canadians entering mining and oil and gas.
The preceding Joint Venture Article is PROMOTED CONTENT sponsored by Franco-Nevada and produced in co-operation with The Northern Miner. Visit: https://www.franco-nevada.com for more information.
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