Assistant Restoration Technician

Job Description – Clean Leadership 2026 Program

Job title:  Assistant Restoration Technician

Reports to: Brent Locke, Executive Director

Job location: Tatamagouche, Wallace & Wentworth, Nova Scotia

Wage: $19/hr

Hours: 35 hours per week (9-week internship)

Start Date: Expected June 25, 2026

Employment Hiring

Clean is committed to Employment Equity and our goal is to be a diverse workforce that is representative at all job levels. The Clean Leadership Program welcomes applications from qualified self-identifying First Nations, Métis and Inuit people, Racialized Youth, Persons with Disabilities, Newcomers, and 2SLGBTQIA+ applicants. If you are a member of one of the equity groups, you are encouraged to self-identify on our registration form.

About the Clean Leadership Summer Internship Program

The Clean Leadership Summer Internship program helps grow the clean economy by matching interns (age 15-30) with employers for 9- and 15-week summer work placements. Participating interns will receive paid hands-on experience, mentorship opportunities, take part in a professional development conference and training, while supporting local environmental projects.

Program Requirements

• Must be a Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident, person who has been granted refugee status in Canada or legally entitled to work in Canada;

• Must be between the ages of 15 and 30 years old (inclusive) at the start of internship;

• From and/or will be residing in Nova Scotia for the duration of the internship;
• Must not be an immediate family member of host employer;

About the host employer

North Shore Rivers Restoration Association

Address: PO Box 351, Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, B0K 1V0

Email: northcolchesterrivers@gmail.com

Phone: 902-880-4821

The North Shore Rivers Restoration Association, NSRRA, is a conservation organization that is dedicated to the preservation of freshwater aquatic species, and their habitat.

The NSRRA was established in 1999 as the North Colchester Rivers Restoration Association. In 2023 the NSRRA began a period of growth and expansion. This expansion was the result of a recognition that there were neighbouring watersheds that had stable populations of Atlantic salmon and trout, but limited or no conservation or habitat restoration activities were being conducted. By expanding our focus and geographic scope, we have strengthened our relationships with existing conservation partners, established new relationships with conservation partners, and increased our volunteer and membership base. The NSRRA’s conservation and habitat restoration efforts in the past 26 years have been quite extensive in the French, Waughs and Wallace River Watersheds. Riparian zone rehabilitation, broodstock collection, parr release, connectivity assessments, fish ladder maintenance, and habitat restoration using instream structures are just some of the work the NSRRA does. The success of our projects would not have been possible without the involvement of other conservation partners. We have close working relationships with federal, provincial, and municipal governments, other conservation organizations, indigenous groups, corporate entities, and a dedicated group of volunteers. Our summer employment program has also provided opportunities for local students in the area, and our current president was formerly one of those students.

2025 was a banner year for our organization and we continued our period of exponential growth. In spite of the many challenges, drought and forest entry bans, faced by us and many other conservation organizations, we managed to have a productive year by modifying our projects and adjusting our expectations to suit these negative conditions. The NSRRA continued its partnership with DFO in monitoring and maintaining the Waughs River fish ladder, we completed the instream habitat restoration work on Crowley Brook installing 26 structures over a remote 2km stretch of the watershed, successfully completed electrofishing at sites in the Wallace River Watershed and partially completed our riparian zone rehabilitation project which of course was cut short due to the drought. These are all great successes but the greatest achievements in 2025 were the completion of the Wallace River, Forks Pool bank stabilization project, which was a joint project with the NSSA. We strengthened our close working relationship with the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq sharing knowledge and resources. The NSRRA’s formed partnership with the Bragg Development Group to implement and oversee Atlantic salmon conservation projects on the site of the new golf course development in Collingwood Corner.

Summary of position 

This is a great position for someone who is passionate about the environment and conservation. A typical working day for the Assistant Restoration Technician will be outside in surrounded by forest, rivers, streams, lakes and all manner of wildlife.

The day begins with a brief toolbox meeting to discuss the activities of the day and do a PPE and gear check. The team will travel together to the restoration site to begin work. This work will be conservation work such as instream habitat restoration assessments, restoration by construction of instream habitat structures, data collection and reporting, tree planting and other related conservation activities.

There will also be a social/community aspect of this position where the successful candidate helps organize community engagement events, organizes volunteers and liaises with other conservation groups.

Duties and Responsibilities 

• Assisting the Senior Field Technician with the following activities:
• Attending conservation workshops and training days.
• Habitat restoration site mapping, assessments and preparations.
• Construction of instream structures to create and enhance freshwater habitat for freshwater aquatic species.
• Riparian restoration. site identification, plot planning and tree planting.
• Data collection, freshwater aquatic species population density studies.
• Connectivity surveys using survey equipment.
• Organizing and assisting community outreach activities

Requirements/Qualifications

• Candidate must have a valid drivers license and reliable transportation.
• Candidate must be able to complete physical tasks.
• Candidate must have a passion for the environment and conservation.
• Candidate must have good communication skills, verbal & written.

Working Conditions 

The working conditions are mostly outside, sometimes in remote areas in all types of weather conditions.

Physical Requirements 

Yes, the job is physically demanding. The candidate must be able to lift a minimum of 20kg.