Mining sector slump leaves some miners hungry for work

Morning North4:26Mining layoffs in Sudbury bringing more people to food bank

As mining companies look to cut costs... Sudburians in the mining supply field are losing their jobs. Some are ending up at the food bank to receive food... and some to sort it out. The CBC's Marina von Stackelberg visited the food bank to find out more.

More than half a dozen of the new volunteers at Sudbury's foodbank come from the mining sector, says executive director Dan Xilon.

The slump in the mining industry has meant many workers have lost their jobs — but the extra time on their hands doesn't simply mean they are coming to pack food.

"There's been a massive increase in first-time users of the food bank," Xilon said.

"The numbers are quite exceptional compared to what they were for this time last year."

Xilon said many of his new volunteers aren't people who worked for Vale or Glencore, but those who lost their jobs in the mining supply sector.

That sector supplies the industry with everything from mining technology to equipment, and employs twice the number of northerners as the mines themselves, according to the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association.

But in an attempt to cut costs, mining companies like Vale say they are looking to have that work done in house.

"I can tell you where there are opportunities to do work with our own people that are currently contracted out, we are looking for those opportunities for sure," Vale spokesperson Angie Robson said.

Douglas Morrison, president of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation said northern Ontario mining suppliers are feeling the pinch.

"Eighty per cent of their business is local. And that means when there is a down-turn in the local market, then they're going to suffer."

Morrison said mining supply and technology companies — which provide three quarters of the mining industry jobs in Ontario — need to start selling their products and services to a global market so they can better withstand local downturns.

"It's really important for those companies to be diversified so that they're not entirely dependent on local mining companies," he said.

As for the Sudbury foodbank, Xilon said he's been impressed with his newest volunteers, who he said are staying positive in hopes their jobs will return when the industry picks up.

"I think a lot of them are believing that there will be a change coming in at least a year or so. I hope that they're right," he said.