June 23, 2008

Canadian Apprenticeship Forum

Women Building Futures project proves women belong in construction trades

SHANNON MONEO

correspondent

A bold Alberta program proves that women can do very well in the trades if they have support when they begin their journey to become journeywomen.

“Women are keen to do the work,” said JudyLynn Archer, CEO of Women Building Futures (WBF), an Edmonton non-profit organization that trains and mentors women to become successful tradespeople.

“Women are keen to learn about the opportunities, but we don’t just wake up and think, ‘I’ll be a boilermaker.’”

Speaking at the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum’s 2008 Conference in Victoria on June 9, Archer said a perfect storm of retirements and mega-projects resulted in 42,000 new construction workers being hired last year in Canada. While the boom and boomer retirements continue, the need won’t dissipate.

In Alberta, just more than half of the province’s 3.5-million population is female, but women make up about four per cent of the province’s construction and oilfield workforce.

In Canada, in 2005, only 10 per cent of the 294,000 people who registered for apprenticeship training were female.

Meanwhile women, many of them single mothers, are working hard at low paying jobs and not earning enough to pay the bills, Archer said.

The WBF program targets these women, primarily aged 24-34 and many of them Aboriginal.

But before they can start, the women complete a four-day assessment.

WBF wants women who will show up at work each day and can do the job.

“We don’t want to disappoint the employer,” Archer said.

WBF also doesn’t want to see signs of alcohol or drug abuse or “rockabilly behaviour.” Future welders or carpenters also have to be able to work with men.

“We have a hard time getting along with the men we love. When we’re working with 3,000 guys like our husbands, we better be prepared,” Archer told an audience of about 400.

Women who pass the assessment go into three streams based on their existing abilities: Journeyman Start (leads to apprenticeship); Boot Camp ( leads to job); Pre-Start Program which feeds into the other two streams.

To ensure the women succeed, the WBF has converted a 30,000-square-foot warehouse it purchased in 2006 into a 50,000-square-foot training and affordable housing facility.

Some women don’t live in permanent housing.

Instead they move from place-to-place. As students, it’s important they get rest and not have to worry about putting a roof over their heads, Archer explained.

The 42 housing units, with 18 of them for single moms and their children, are furnished and fully-outfitted.

“We bought nothing but the best,” Archer said.

“We’re trying to build an inclusive and respectful place, especially for Aboriginal women.”

Most of the women in the WBF program do not pay for their training or housing, she said.

One further aspect which requires action is child care for the trainees, since it’s the number one reason employers are leery of hiring women.

WBF aims to make child care a non-issue, she said.

So far, the program appears to be working.

About 90 per cent of its graduates find and maintain jobs in the trades.

They’re eager to work, detail-oriented, conscientious and happy to be there, Archer said.

Since the WBF’s launch in 1998, more than 60 companies have taken on the program’s 330 students.

WBF is funded by the federal, provincial and municipal governments along with industry and private donor dollars.

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