The foundation for building the Canadian Mining Certification Program is the National Occupational Standards—an industry-driven approach to facilitate recruitment, establish clear educational requirements and increase retention within Canada's mining industry.

The National Occupational Standards are detailed inventories of the skills and knowledge that workers require to perform specific jobs in the mining industry. Skills and knowledge associated with the standards relate to all types of mining technology—new and old. In this way, the standards are relevant for any mining workplace across Canada.

By establishing these clear, objective benchmarks, the National Occupational Standards also provide the basis for the  Canadian Mining Certification Program (CMCP) and CMCP Training Accreditation Program.

Created by Industry, for Industry
Several committees have been established to ensure the occupational standards accurately reflect industry requirements and are relevant and widely applicable. Comprising employers, employees, educators and representatives of industry organizations, associations and federal, provincial and territorial governments, these committees represent all the activities and specialties of the four developed occupational standards.

Defining the Work We Do
So far, National Occupational Standards have been developed for four mining occupational areas:

• surface miner
• underground miner
• minerals processing operator
• diamond driller

Managed under the Canadian Mining Certification Program, National Occupational Standards (NOS) outline the skills and knowledge required to competently perform in an occupation. The NOS will provide the foundation to develop a national credential recognizing the skills, knowledge, and experience of Canadian mine workers.

National Occupational Standards for additional occupational areas are under consideration.