Mount Royal and Trans Mountain partner to bring project management education opportunities to Indigenous women

By Erin Guiltenane, Mount Royal University

The unique learning partnership between Mount Royal University and Trans Mountain is completing its third cohort, with plans to provide expanded offerings in 2024.

It doesn’t take a four-year degree to “level-up” or even change the course of your career. A staple of Mount Royal’s project management programming, the Project Management Extension Certificate program offered by the Faculty of Continuing Education is geared towards providing opportunities for learners across the country — and even the world — to expand and develop their skills. 

Building on a strong foundation of industry connection, Mount Royal is part of a project management program for Indigenous women in Western Canada. The program is supported by Trans Mountain and is offered in communities along the pipeline corridor as part of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project’s education and training initiatives. Program participants gain tools and knowledge not only to manage projects effectively but also to foster sustainable development within their communities. Offered remotely, the program brings together women from diverse backgrounds, cultures and geographic locations. 

Partnership facilitates professional and personal growth

Alisha Carey is a student in the current cohort, which finishes at the end of 2023. She chose Mount Royal to grow her skills and advance her career. The recently revamped Project Management Extension Certificate program aligns with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)’s Seventh Edition.

“I was interested in the project management course because I knew it would give me the knowledge and skills to thrive in my current position,” she says. “As a Métis woman working in a heavily male-dominated industry, it was important to me to achieve the proper credentials.”

Carey says she enjoyed learning about all the different aspects of project management, especially appreciating being able to apply the course learnings into her day-to-day work. “I found learning about communication styles has really been beneficial. Not only do I better understand myself, but also my coworkers and the stakeholders that I interact with.”

Alisha Carey 

Describing her experience taking Mount Royal's project management courses as a positive one, Carey cites the easily manageable course load and clear expectations as key factors in allowing her to successfully participate in the program while also working at her full-time job. 

Further, she says, “Our instructor, Matt Luik, was phenomenal, taking the time to explain things in detail and always willing to help outside of class time.”

Luik, who has been closely involved with the Trans Mountain-backed program since it began in 2020, says, “I have been extremely impressed by the quality of work that the participants in this cohort have produced so far, and the enthusiasm that they always bring to our weekly classes,” he says. “The students come from a diverse range of industries, from aviation to publishing, so it's been really interesting to draw upon their collective experiences and witness how project management best practices can add value in so many areas.”

Stephanie Felker, senior advisor, Partnerships and Reconciliation at Trans Mountain, says that Mount Royal was a natural fit for an education partner.

“I personally had an affinity for Mount Royal as a past student, and with participants being geographically dispersed between Alberta and B.C.,” she says. “With all of us working virtually, it was important to create a true online learning community where learnings and challenges could be shared, and successes celebrated, and provide Indigenous women with an opportunity to learn completely online.”

The program is part of Trans Mountain’s education and training initiatives on their pipeline expansion project and aligns with the company’s goal of building sustainable, respectful relationships with Indigenous communities. As the project nears mechanical completion, Trans Mountain says they remain committed to working co-operatively and transparently towards this goal.

A key focus of the program in 2023 was to pair participants with a practicum opportunity. Trans Mountain is currently providing one previous graduate with mentorship, support and real-life work experience in business readiness. As a junior project manager with Trans Mountain’s Incident Response Team (IRT), the graduate has been given the opportunity to work with a progressive and fast-paced group of experts in the IRT department. At the time of writing, the graduate has completed onboarding and is preparing reports as part of a series of critical inputs to Trans Mountain’s Construction Execution Team. 

Personal and professional connections offer unique value

Alongside the professional skills development, the personal connections forged through the cohort have made lifelong impacts on the participants. 

Carey says her most meaningful experience in the program is being able to take the courses with other Indigenous women who have brought their experiences to the program. “It is empowering to be able to learn with such brilliant women,” she says.

Felker echoes the sentiment, saying, “We have seen resilience, strength and friendships emerge through the course.”

Luik says the more personalized nature of a cohort is a standout feature of his experience as an educator in the program. “I have always enjoyed sharing my passion for project management with MRU students, but I find the Trans Mountain program particularly rewarding because I get to spend nine months with a cohort of students and really get to know them.”

Carey says she is very happy and grateful in her current position as a general manager at an abatement company and knows the skills she has learned are going to help the company become more profitable, organized, and successful. 

“Project management is constantly changing, along with the expectations of what successful project management looks like,” Luik says. “I have no doubt that the MRU project-management programs will continue to provide aspiring and experienced project managers alike with practical knowledge and tools that will help them advance their careers.

“In both of the previous two Trans Mountain cohorts we had some students who continued to study project management beyond the Project Management Extension Certificate and went on to earn the Project Management Professional (PMP) designation, awarded by the Project Management Institute (PMI), after completing the MRU PMP Prep course.”

Trans Mountain plans to expand this program with more opportunities in 2024.