The percentage of women working in the skilled trades in Canada has been increasing steadily over the past few years, thanks to the federal Women in the Skilled Trades Initiative and the provincial New Boots program.
According to Statistics Canada’s most recent study from 2022, women make up 7.4 per cent of all trades workers nationally, and 6.3 per cent in New Brunswick. This is up 1.7 per cent nationally, and 3.6 per cent provincially from 2012.
In an effort to increase the percentage of women working in the trades, Carleton North High School held a Women-in-Trades event on April 12 to introduce female students to fields in the trades they might not have considered in the past.
Knowing is half the battle
Fifteen girls in grades 9-12 signed up to participate in the event, which was led by shop teacher Ken Robins with help from three male students from his shop class. The Women-in-Trades event was part of the school’s Wellness Afternoons, a series of activities designed to promote student health and self-care, as well as possible career experiences.
The stated aim of the event was to show young women who may have never considered some trades fields that those fields are viable career options for them.
“I would’ve never tried something like this before, but it was fantastic to learn and build in the shop,” said Grade 11 student Holly Moores.
Grade 12 student Gabby O’Donnell shared a similar sentiment: “Seeing all of the younger girls sign up and participate was amazing. It was nice to see them get out of their shell and try something new.”
Students learned to interpret blueprints, then used Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) plasma cutters—generously donated by Hartland’s Craig Manufacturing—to fit and weld their projects.
“I would’ve never tried something like this before, but it was fantastic to learn and build in the shop”
Holly Moores
Robins and student helpers Jack Somerville, Jack MacDonald, Ethan Trites assisted the group.
“I enjoyed helping the girls learn something new working in the shop,” said Somerville, a Grade 12 student. “Hopefully we will see more girls from our school participate in shop classes in the future years.”
Said Grade 10 student Sarah Harvey: “This is not something I would have normally tried but I loved working in the shop. It was good to have the boys there because they were helpful in showing us how to do it… I will be signing up to take a shop class in the future.”
According to Robins, the Women-in-Trades event led to an increase in enrollment requests for shop courses in the next school year.
“I thought it was super fun and it was a great learning experience,” said Grade 10 student Abby Kelly. “It was more complicated than I expected, but I proved to myself that I could do it.”
For Robins, the event reinforced his purpose as an educator.
“The attendees’ passion to learn was inspiring and it served as a wonderful reminder of why I teach,” he said.