Ways to get and keep women in skilled trades
With her helmet and tool belt tied around her waist, Canadore College Level 3 apprentice carpentry student Sarah Lachapelle is breaking down barriers, both literally and figuratively, as officials gathered in North Bay to discuss ideas to get more women into the skilled trades.
Roundtable on ideas to get women in skilled trades held at the North Bay Chamber of Commerce. Jan. 19/24 (Eric Taschner/CTV Northern Ontario)
"Carpentry was my final choice and I love it and I’ve been loving it so far,” she said.
"It's definitely something I want to pursue."
She’s the only female student in her class.
She said she wanted to study carpentry so she could one day build her own house.
"Last year was a little different, we had three girls,” Lachapelle said.
"But in the workforce, as well, I’m also the only woman."
Statistics Canada finds that across the country, only about five per cent of skilled trade workers are women.
Canadore’s carpentry apprentices professor Jill Rydall has been in the skilled trades for more than 40 years.
She said she would like to see more younger women like Lachapelle get their foot in the door.
"Let me tell you, women are super talented when it comes to using any of the equipment, and they're super precise," Rydall said.
"They're just gifted and there are a lot of viable careers."
- Download the CTV News app now
- Get local breaking news alerts
- Daily newsletter with the top local stories emailed to your inbox
Sarah Lachapelle, a Canadore College Level 3 apprentice carpentry student. Jan. 19/24 (Eric Taschner/CTV Northern Ontario)
The North Bay professor sat in on a roundtable discussion with other female entrepreneurs and skilled workers in the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce building Friday morning.
It was led by Charmaine Williams, Ontario’s associate minister of women's social and economic opportunity, and Vic Fedeli, the Nipissing MPP and Ontario’s minister of economic development, job creation and trade.
Charmaine Williams, Ontario’s associate minister of women's social and economic opportunity in North Bay for roundtable discussion to brainstorm ideas on how to get more women into skilled trades. Jan. 19/24 (Eric Taschner/CTV Northern Ontario)
The roundtable was an opportunity to brainstorm ideas to try and find ways to get more women into the trades.
"A lot of employers are saying, 'when we have women on the job site, it's a better environment,'" Williams told reporters after the discussion.
"We’ve seen a 30 per cent increase of women in female apprenticeship."
The biggest barrier, Williams said, is discrimination, whether it’s obvious or not. Shockingly, about half of the women who enter the trades choose to leave after four years.
"It’s sometimes just the work environment itself, the culture, the job sites in the trades,” she said.
"Whenever you get women together to have conversations of the barriers that we are facing to our success, solutions always come out of them."
The next discussion is to find ways to keep them in the sector.
North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce president Donna Backer was sitting in on the roundtable discussion as well.
She said one positive way to retain and recruit women into the skilled trades is to ensure job sites have a women’s washroom or change room readily available.
"The education is there … We need to just find out whether or not there is an opportunity for the government to help out our business community," she said.
"It is an education at all levels. Men need to realize that women can do the job just as well as you."
Backer also touched on the impact women have in the workplace, especially one that can be seen as 'male dominant.'
“There is a cleaner work environment, it is a calmer work environment and businesses are seeing an increase in productivity when women are there,” she said.
"Because the men are seeing the women working a little differently and they want to be working exactly the same way."
Williams said these kinds of discussions are meant to create a brighter future for the next generation of hard-working women in the skilled trades.
"I always say, 'If you can see me, you can be me' and we need to tell the story of what the opportunities are,” she said.
"We have invested around $30 million to see women have opportunities and entrepreneurship and getting women into sectors where we are underrepresented."
Lachapelle acknowledges that there are going to be stigmas and barriers along the way, but said she is ready to tackle them head-on.
"It’s all a mental game," she said.
"There are lots of barriers, but I’m not letting them stop me."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7023581.1725401586!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'He didn’t deserve to die like that': 15-year-old boy fatally gunned down steps from Toronto police station
Mario Giddings was supposed to start Grade 11 at Weston Collegiate Institute on Tuesday morning.
Canada issues new travel advice amid spread of bug-transmitted disease
Canada is advising travellers to be aware of reported viral Oropouche outbreaks in the Americas, where overall cases are higher than expected and some countries have recorded their first-ever infections.
Northern Ont. suspect, 95, charged with driving scooter while impaired
A 95-year-old suspect from West Nipissing has been charged with impaired driving after Ontario Provincial Police responded to a traffic hazard Aug. 30.
Canada rejecting more foreign travellers at border as feds face criticism over immigration
Canada has seen a sharp increase in the number of foreign travellers it's turning away at ports of entry, according to data from the Canada Border Services Agency, while the federal government continues to face criticism for allowing immigration numbers to balloon, putting pressure on the housing supply.
John Tavares is taking the CRA to court. A ruling against him could change how NHL teams sign players
Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares is taking the CRA to court over a dispute as to how a signing bonus from 2018 should be taxed. The ruling could have a chilling effect on how Canadian NHL franchises negotiate with unrestricted free agents.
'Like being in prison': Via Rail passenger says people stranded without food, water
A tourist visiting Canada is questioning the safety of Via Rail after he says his phone was snatched from him by an employee when he was documenting a train delay that left passengers stranded as they ran out of food, water and working toilets.
Video shows man used as 'human shield' during daytime shootout in Hamilton
Police are asking for the public’s help identifying two men who were captured on video firing shots at each other across a street in Hamilton over the weekend.
11-year-old confesses to killing former mayor of a Louisiana town and his daughter
An 11-year-old boy has admitted to police he fatally shot the former interim mayor of a small Louisiana town and his adult daughter, authorities said.
Man, 50 others go on trial in France for rape of drugged wife
A 71-year-old man is on trial in France accused of drugging his wife and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her in their home over nearly a decade in a case that has shocked the country.