Women in Nuclear - WiN Canada

Women in Nuclear Canada hosts workshop on skilled trades and technologies

With women making up one-half of today’s Canadian labour force, it is urgent they be recruited into high-paying skilled trades and technologies positions if we want to secure our future.

Women in Non-Traditional Roles – Putting Our Skills to Work, was the theme of a workshop hosted by WiN-Canada, on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, in Ottawa. “Fifty-two percent of skilled tradespeople in Canada are eligible to retire by 2015,” said Susan Brissette, WiN-Canada President. “Women typically account for only about 6% of skilled trades and technologies jobs in the electricity sector in Canada even though careers in these fields are lucrative and fulfilling.  Finding new and innovative ways to promote career interest in the skilled trades and technologies to women will strengthen the overall talent pool of the nuclear industry at a time when these skills are foreseen to be in demand as older plants are refurbished and new ones are built.”

WiN invited women and men from industry, education, government, union and non-industry to discuss the attraction, retention and promotion of women working in non-traditional roles. Fifty-five participants attended the workshop, facilitated by Gail Smyth, Executive Director, Skills Canada – Ontario.

Three keynote speakers challenged the audience by offering facts and insights to support the table discussions which were focused on addressing how business, education and government, women in industry, and individual participants each had a role to play to help address female employment and the skills shortages. Katherine Jacobs, from the Ontario Construction Secretariat, provided the statistical background about the skilled trades and technologies in Canada. Jacobs’s statistics presented the magnitude of the challenge; highlighting that against a backdrop of retirements and expected skills shortages, women still only account for 9% of registered apprentices in Canada and female trade staff accounts for less than 6% of the electricity sector employment population. Stacy DuBois and Cathy Lewis, both gold medalists at the Ontario Technological Skills Competition and Canadian Skills Competition talked about their experiences in the skilled trades and technologies and the importance mentors played in their individual success stories. They gave insights into what attracted them and how to promote to others the benefits of this type of career choice.

The outcome of the workshop will be a position paper, co-authored by WiN-Canada and Skills Canada, to be shared with participants and industry providing recommendations on how to attract, retain and promote women in the skilled trades and technologies, in the nuclear industry.