According to a study completed by the Mining Industry Human Resource Council (MIHR) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (CIM), Canada will face a large short fall for labor in the next 15-20 years.

By 2023, there could be a need for 150,000 to 200,000 workers.

According to the Mining Industry Human Resource Council, there could be a need for 150 to 200 thousand workers by 2023, CBC News reported.

The head of the MIHR said the organization is coming up with strategies to make up for the gap.

"Based on our forecasting, Sudbury will need about 20,000 new workers between now and the next 10 years," Ryan Montpellier, head of MIHR said.

"So really, we'll need about 2,000 new people per year for the mining industry — due to some growth, but primarily due to replacement demand, or people leaving toward retirement."

A recent industry report estimated that 25 percent of current workers in Canadian mining will be eligible to retire by 2023.

Meanwhile, CIM is working on a new campaign to address the threat of a labor shortage in the global mining industry.

Jean Vavrek, executive director of the CIM said Canada could be short 100,000 workers in the next decade.

"Right now, the industry doesn't have a good enough handle on the global requirements,” Jean Vavrek said.

“We're finding our universities and our industry getting poached from outside Canada."

Vavrek also cited the aging workforce as a major issue.

For the campaign, the CIM is working with partner organizations in countries like Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom, who are reporting similar labor problems.