Province lags behind rest of country getting women into skilled trades

When it comes to women in the trades, New Brunswick has some work to do.

"We are dead last as a province in the country, " said Helene Savoie-Louis, director of MAPS Strategic Workforce Services, the non-profit that runsthe New Boots: Progressing Women in Trades program.

According to Savoie-Louis, women make up about four per cent of the workforce in trades. The national average is six to seven per cent.

She hopes to raise awareness through education and public events like "Try-A-Trade," which was held at the community collegein Dieppe on Friday.

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There were 10 interactive booths, where people could try everything from bricklaying to welding and construction.

The idea was to let people, especially women, get"hands-on" experience in a trade.

Savoie-Louis said that in New Brunswick, there are few examples of women working on construction sites or even at a garage, and "you cannot be what you cannot see."

Shelby Lyman is a Red Seal automotive service technician, who repairs ambulances for the province. She agreed there aren't enough women in trades.

"Not nearly enough," she said. "It needs to be showcased a little more. It's a great opportunity. I love my job. It's a lot of fun."

Lyman saidher father had a garage, so working on cars came naturally to her. But attitudes need to change, she said.

"That whole stigma, too, that trades are for the people that aren't as intelligent like that was a big stigma growing up, like, 'Oh, you're not very good at science, so go and do a trade because that's what's really there for you.'"

Katelyn Lyman, a truck and transport service technician, said she was the only womanin her college class, graduating with top marks.

"When I went through high school and stuff, it wasn't encouraged enough," she said.

It's a sentiment shared byCarley Trites, who loves being a carpenter but saidnot enough is done to promote jobs like hers to other women.

"I think we're doing terrible actually, but it's events like this that [are] going to make it a lot better, and hopefully they'll keep these things up."

Fellow carpenter Morgan Anderson saidher training went smoothly, and she was hired right out of college. She thinks the tide is slowly turning.

"I'm seeing a lot more, and it's really good to try and encourage girls, especially with the new programs that are coming through New Brunswick that have been established. They can bring more women in and there's more coming, so that's good."

Timing is crucial, according to Savoie-Louis,because the province is facing a mass retirement of skilled trades workers in the next 10years.

"We know that we're going to be missing two to three thousand people to take the place of journey people retiring," she said.

"Those are two to three thousand jobs in New Brunswick."