Canada’s Seafarers’ Training Institute (STI) has launched a hiring initiative to plug a looming labour gap in the offing as seasoned mariners retire in the next five years.
STI’s initiative is targeting youngsters fresh out of high school in a bid to compensate for the expected 20% decline in the country’s maritime workforce through natural wastage.
The nationwide hiring initiative, entitled “Be a Seafarer” is being done in conjunction with industry stakeholders Algoma Central Corporation, Groupe Desgagnes, Canada Steamship Lines and Seafarers’ International Union (SIU).
It will aim to recruit, train and retain a new generation to the country’s merchant marine.
This is the first time Canada has conducted a campaign on such a scale, indicative of what the STI calls an “impending crisis” for an industry that brings in $3bn to national GDP.
