Nunavik's first in-region university program aims to recruit more teachers
The region's school board, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq (KI), has received new funding from the province to launch a certificate in education for First Nations and Inuit, in partnership with McGill University.
Harriet Keleutak, KI's director general, said their aim is to bring more Inuktut teachers on board.
"Every year we're missing 20-plus Inuit teachers, meaning some of our classes are closed most of the time, even though we try to recruit as much as we can," she said.
Currently, most teachers do part-time training on-the-job, and that's exclusive to current Kativik Ilisarniliriniq employees. That process can take up to seven years.
"That leads to a high turnover because the training is taking too long before they can get their skills," Keleutak said.
This new full-time course, starting September 2 in Kuujjuaq, will take two years and is open to all beneficiaries of Nunavik.
Last month, the school board partnered with Montreal's John Abbott College to bring some 10-day post-secondary courses to the region.
There is currently no college or university campus located in Nunavik. In contrast, all three territories and Labrador have at least one post-secondary institution. Under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, KI doesn't have the administrative jurisdiction to provide post-secondary education by itself.
Through her conversations with Quebec's Education Ministry and Makivvik, Keleutak said she's hopeful that a post-secondary institution could be possible in the next decade.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business Insider
AI will augment high-skilled jobs but hit clerical work hardest, Australia's government predicts
Australia's jobs market is bracing for an AI shake-up. Generative AI is set to automate large chunks of routine clerical and administrative work while serving as a powerful assistant for high-skilled roles, according to new modelling from Jobs and Skills Australia. The government agency's "Our Gen AI transition" report, released on Thursday, used economy-wide Computable General Equilibrium modelling — a type of economic simulation that tracks how changes ripple across all industries and occupations — to forecast how automation and augmentation could reshape Australia's labor market between now and 2050. The model incorporated "exposure" scores for 998 occupations, estimating how much of each job could be fully automated or partially augmented by AI technology. The results showed that only about 4% of the workforce is in occupations with high automation exposure, while 79% have low automation exposure but medium-to-high augmentation potential. That means AI is more likely to change how most jobs are done rather than eliminate them. JSA's report listed routine clerical roles, including general clerks, receptionists, accounting clerks, and bookkeepers, as the most automatable. At the other end of the spectrum, knowledge-intensive jobs like managers, engineers, healthcare professionals, and educators had higher augmentation potential. JSA's modelling projected the biggest job declines by 2050 for general clerks, receptionists, accounting clerks and bookkeepers, sales and marketing professionals, and programmers. It predicted the largest job gains for cleaners and laundry workers, nurses and midwives, business administration managers, construction and mining laborers, and hospitality workers — occupations that require physical presence and human touch. While the pace of change will vary depending on how quickly industries and occupations adopt generative AI, JSA forecasts slower employment growth through the 2030s as the labor market adjusts, followed by faster growth in the 2040s. "The quality of adoption and implementation will be instrumental in achieving the benefits of labor-augmenting tools," the report said. The report also found no evidence of a broad decline in entry-level hiring so far, but said early signs suggest these jobs may evolve, shifting from performing repetitive tasks to overseeing and refining AI-generated outputs. JSA urged policymakers to prepare now with targeted training, industry partnerships, and digital inclusion efforts to ensure all workers can benefit from the AI transition, especially women, older Australians, First Nations peoples, and people with disabilities, who the report found are more likely to be in roles with higher automation risk. The findings come amid a wider debate over how AI will affect human work. Satya Nadella, the Microsoft CEO, has argued that while " knowledge work" will be redefined as AI takes on tasks once done exclusively by people, humans will still be needed to oversee and direct the technology. Others are more pessimistic. Adam Dorr, the research director at the think tank RethinkX, has warned that AI could make most human jobs obsolete by 2045, leaving only a narrow set of roles that depend on human connection or ethical complexity. Geoffrey Hinton, dubbed the "Godfather of AI," has meanwhile said " mundane intellectual labor" is most at risk, predicting that one person could end up doing the work of 10 with AI assistance. In the eyes of the Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, AI will automate certain roles but create new jobs in areas such as robotics, while Bill Gates has highlighted the potential for AI to solve chronic shortages of teachers and doctors.
Yahoo
09-08-2025
- Yahoo
Site C dam energy project now fully operational, B.C. Hydro says
B.C. Hydro says that the sixth and final generating unit on the Site C hydroelectric megaproject in northeast B.C. is now online. The massive energy project has been under construction since 2015, and its first generating unit became operational last October, when power began being supplied to the grid. At $16 billion, nearly double of its initial price tag, Site C is considered B.C.'s most expensive infrastructure project. It went ahead despite court cases from First Nations and other groups, some of which decried the impact of flooding land and changing the course of the massive Peace River in northeast B.C. Site C was initially approved by the then-B.C. Liberal government in 2010, and the project stayed on course after a review by the B.C. NDP government in 2017. B.C. Hydro estimates the dam will be able to provide 5,100 gigawatt hours of electricity each year, adding eight per cent to the province's total production capacity. The hydroelectric project draws from an 83-kilometre-long reservoir, which covers an area of about 5,550 hectares of land, 25 times the size of Stanley was filled in with water starting last August, and Energy Minister Adrian Dix said that "generations of British Columbians" would benefit from the clean electricity generated by the project. "The commission of Site C's final generating unit is another step forward to securing B.C.'s clean energy future," he said in a statement. Hazards in area: B.C. Hydro B.C. Hydro says that, now that the final generating unit is operational, future construction work at Site C will consist of completing the powerhouse and generating station and paving access roads. The utility estimates it will serve B.C. Hydro customers for the next century, and is now providing enough electricity to power 500,000 homes. "Work also continues to backfill the tunnels used to divert the Peace River, and revegetate areas no longer required for construction," a statement from B.C. Hydro utility says that there continue to be a number of hazards in the area around Site C and the surrounding slopes, and it's urging members of the public to stay away for now. "These potential hazards include floating vegetation debris and the surrounding land and shoreline continuing to stabilize," the statement reads. "The new B.C. Hydro public boat launches will open when the reservoir is deemed safe, which is expected to be spring 2026 at the earliest." First Nation opposition The project was not completed without controversy and opposition. In 2018, the West Moberly First Nation lost a bid for an injunction order against the project, having argued that the dam would cause irreparable harm to the nation's territory and way of life — rights protected under Treaty 8. The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs called the ruling a "grave disappointment." Later, in 2022, the nation came to a partial settlement with B.C. Hydro and the provincial and federal governments. It included an impact and benefits agreement between, 5,000 acres of provincial Crown land transferred to the First Nation and an agreement to release West Moberly's claims against the Site C project. At the time, Chief Roland Willson told CBC News he had been reluctant to settle out of court, but his community felt it was out of options. With the dam now complete, B.C. Hydro has released flyover drone video of the megaproject


Hamilton Spectator
01-08-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
'We need our language': first students from Kwanlin Dün language revitalization course graduate
Alkan Air will be providing air ambulance services to Yukoners for the next ten years, thanks to a new contract with the Yukon government. The awarding of the contract was announced on July 29. It's a $157-million contract, valued at around $15.7 million a year. Alkan Air has been doing medevac flights in the territory for decades, according to Alkan Air chief executive officer Lacia Kinnear, but this is the first time the company has been awarded a ten-year contract with the government. Alkan Air provides medevac flights from rural Yukon to Whitehorse, as well as from Whitehorse to southern cities like Vancouver and Calgary. The length of the contract will be instrumental in ensuring longevity and continuity of service in the Yukon, Kinnear said. She said other jurisdictions like the Northwest Territories and British Columbia have been awarding 10-year contracts to their respective air ambulance providers. 'We're really grateful that government has continued with that trend, because it's definitely the best way to ensure consistent and quality service for Yukoners,' Kinnear said. The contract, according to the press release, will begin April 1, 2026, as the current contract with Alkan Air is set to expire on March 31, 2026. There is the option for the contract to be extended by an additional two years. As part of the contract, Alkan Air will continue to provide 24/7 air ambulance coverage to the territory. 'We'll be introducing two new planes to our fleet, not brand new, but new to the Yukon, and they will have all brand new interiors, as well as new internal, the med equipment and the inside will all be brand new,' Kinnear told the News over the phone on July 30. The contract will also see continued partnership with the Yukon First Nation Air Leasing Limited Partnership, according to Kinnear. The partnership is composed of eight First Nations development corporations, who will help Alkan Air purchase and lease the new aircraft required for this contract, according to a Yukon government press release. There are two new planes being introduced to the Yukon as part of this contract, said Kinnear. She said that Alkan Air will own 25 per cent of the new planes and the Yukon First Nation Air Leasing Limited Partnership will own 75 per cent. 'This will help to ensure that the benefits of this work in this contract are shared, through both training, employment opportunities, but also a shared path towards economic reconciliation and by bringing local First Nations into the contract and economic opportunities within the territory,' Kinnear said. 'There is the goal of hiring both First Nation pilots, First Nation AMEs, but also recognizing and working with our First Nation partners about what is the pathway to make sure that those people are in those programs so that we can eventually hire them into this contract,' Kinnear said. AME refers to aircraft mechanical engineer. The territory has seen an increase in demand for air ambulance service in the past years, according to the Yukon government's press release. In 2020, 988 patients were transported via air ambulance in the Yukon; in 2024, that number was 1,489. Kinnear said the new contract allows Alkan Air to meet that increase. The provisions include the number of pilots and the number of mechanical engineers that Alkan Air is able to employ to work on aircraft to ensure work is done as needed and on schedule. The contract also has a provision that there can be an additional aircraft added at some point in the contract. She said that opportunity is forward thinking in case demand increases. 'I think that that is something that is building a lot of resiliency into the system within the 10 year contract.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .