Jane Almey admits she is no handyperson and, as a young girl, she never imagined she’d spend her adult working days on highrise construction sites.
However, she fell in love with the “dynamic and fascinating” world of construction, and today is a managing partner in Bluescape, a Toronto full-service construction management firm specializing in highrise mixed-use and multi-unit projects.
Almey excelled in math and sciences at high school and because of that, she applied and was accepted into the University of Waterloo’s Civil Engineering Co-op program. At university she found herself in the minority as a female engineering student.
“I didn’t realize I’d be so outnumbered by males. In high school, there were girls in math and science, but not a lot of them were going into engineering,” Almey says. “In the early 2000s, there was not a lot of support for girls to get into engineering. “
Halfway through her studies, she found a career path that appealed to her. Almey completed six co-operative terms, ranging from design work to placements with consulting firms and municipalities. She says it was expected most graduates of her program would go into consulting or design fields, but sitting in an office all day wasn’t for her. Only a small minority of her university courses had been geared to the construction world.
However, during a co-op term at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital engineering department, that handled renovations, repairs, touch-ups and slightly larger projects, she got a taste of project management.
“That was my favourite co-op term. I didn’t love the consulting world. I didn’t love the municipal world, but I loved project management.”
She was hired by Bluescape in 2010, then a small construction management firm.
“It was perfect timing, as the condo market started to boom and Bluescape was looking to hire,” she says. “I grew with the company.”
In 2017, she and four others became managing partners as the business flourished. Although Bluescape has done construction management for dozens of projects, a special one for Almey is Reina, a family-friendly, mid-rise condominium in Etobicoke, developed by Spotlight Developments and Urban Capital. It had the first all-female development team in Canada and Almey served as construction manager.
“I think Reina helped to highlight gender disparity in our industry,” Almey says. “We were really trying to showcase that there is a big gap in the number of women in the industry compared to men, and it was a bit of an old boys’ industry for awhile. It helped focus on women in the industry who were flying under the radar.
“It was such a joy to be part of that project, not only because of the great working relationships in all aspects. It was nice to work with all these other women at the top of their field. It felt much more collaborative and it was a bit of fresh air. The project itself is beautiful, designed by BDP Quadrangle. I take a lot of pride in every project, but I definitely have a soft spot for this one.”
In her role as senior manager at Bluescape, Almey heads to active sites first thing in the morning (though she’s currently on maternity leave).
She touches base with site superintendents and does a walkaround, looking at the schedule to see if work is falling behind and assessing potential risks to mitigate them before they happen.
A large part of Almey’s current focus is on Bluescape’s corporate side, looking at requests for proposals, projects coming up and seeking additional work for the company as well as keeping tabs on finances, human resources “and all the things that go with running a company.”
Although Almey proves women don’t necessarily have to use tools to find good careers in the construction world, she is seeing more onsite than 10 years ago. Those Almey sees tend to be working on “the back end of trades,” including in finishing work, painting, drywall, insulation and final cleaning.
“I haven’t seen as many women in the front end, such as below grade and formwork, and mechanical work. Those are still male-dominated trades at this point,” she says.
According to BuildForce Canada, currently women represent just five per cent of onsite trades and occupations in Ontario, with only 14,200 women working directly on the tools.
BuildForce Canada data from the end of December 2025 by gender revealed while employment in all but the eldest cohort (55 years and older) of male workers grew over 12 months, employment among all three female cohorts (55 years plus, 25 to 54 years old, and 15 to 24 years old) contracted. Employment among all females decreased by 23,700 workers, or 10.6 per cent, while employment among all males rose by 22,300 workers, or 1.6 per cent.
Almey says she’s witnessed growth for women in construction plateauing, but she says that may be due to a female gender bias, but because “our industry has been taking quite a hit over the last couple of years and there’s not as many jobs out there.”
Though the GTA condo market has largely stalled, she says some clients are sitting and waiting until the market picks up again, while others are shifting proposed condo developments to market rental projects. The current market stagnation won’t last forever, Almey says, and careers in construction are still worth considering for women.
“There is never a point where the broad construction industry will not be part of our society,” Almey says. “There is a bit of a downtown in the residential sector, but there will always be construction, whether it’s residential, industrial, commercial, institutional or infrastructure. In some ways, it’s a sure thing and a great industry to get into.”
Her message to women is this: “My feeling is it’s such a rewarding industry and offers such rewarding careers. I’m seeing a shift in attitudes and the industry is a lot more inclusive, open and inviting. Any hurdles I had when I was getting into the industry have seemed to gone away. There are opportunities and you have a ton to offer.”
