Adopting technology to people and examining projects through the eyes of those concerned are two ways new technology and engineering can be installed and successfully operated under the adverse conditions of northern Canada and in the face of predicted labor shortages in the 1980's. Adopting a more flexible technology provides the opportunity for people, not machines, to improve productivity and performance. It increases the quality of working life, significant in the north where southern workers typically experience four stresses leading to high labor turnover: isolation; lack of stimulation; unfamiliarity; and loss or diminution of normal relationships. These stresses can be reduced and workforce stability increased by designing projects from the workers' point of view, using such techniques as selling the experience of working in the north, having workers arrive in groups, hiring women, reinforcing normal social roles, and "freight-equalizing" the culture. Once stress is reduced work schedules and average stays on the project can be extended. Project policies and specifications which include human, social, cultural, and environmental aspects along with economic, financial, and technological factors may prove to be the lowest-cost solutions in the long run, requiring the most advanced technology and engineering available. A brief bilingual (French-English) abstract is included. (SB)