CLAC’s national program to promote and advance women in the trades launched last year and is adding a regional focus on connecting with women in northern Ontario.
The thinking is that with the anticipated surge of work in the north with Ring of Fire developments, for example, labour needs will rise and women can fill a variety of trade positions, says CLAC’s Melanie St. Andrews, program manager of Supporting Women in Trades (SWIT).
“We want women to know that as work comes into different rural northern communities that they can participate in it too,” she says. “They may not know how or where to start but we can help them.”
SWIT offers a multitude of career guidance and workplace support services online and over the phone, ideal for women living in remote locations.
St. Andrews says many women in the north don’t think of construction as a career option, but SWIT offers career assessment tools to help them identify their interests and strengths.
“It can be their first entry point into the trades.”
The program doesn’t promise women employment but can help them do anything from creating a resume to connections with signatory companies that might consider hiring them as apprentices.
“We’ve got some awesome employers that are willing to take a chance on someone,” she adds.
Along with its own online marketing, CLAC has retained a communication firm with regional ties to help develop connections in northern Ontario. The multi-trade union will also run targeted marketing campaigns and attend in-person events.
In is short time, SWIT has a number of success stories to tell.
Within weeks of reaching out to SWIT through an Instagram ad, Fernandell Joseph had completed an assessment and was offered a job, says Amberly Winger, CLAC’s marketing manager.
Winger says Joseph credits SWIT’s support for helping her feel confident again after a difficult life transition.
Desiray Foster-Kemps, a recent CLAC mentor, says if she had found the program earlier she would have “discovered my voice in the workplace much sooner.”
Foster-Kemps is a fourth-year carpenter apprentice. She recently launched an Instagram account to share her story and guide other women in the trades, Winger says.
St. Andrews says SWIT personnel can refer participants to skills training courses that are specific to the needs of employers in the region.
While the program connects with women at distance through online and phone support, its staff will host onsite events and gets involved in communities “when it can make a difference,” she says.
Workplace support is an important facet of SWIT because while the male dominated industry may be less discriminatory than it was 10 or 20 years ago, that workplace culture can still be difficult to navigate.
Women can be afraid to tell bosses about problems they have with male colleagues, but SWIT offers them a space to share those issues in confidence, says St. Andrews.
“We don’t want women to leave good-paying jobs because of workplace culture.”
There is no cost or registration required to get help through SWIT.
“We feel this is a place that CLAC can help build the workforce in northern Ontario,” St. Andrews says.
