3 days Ago By [email protected] (Kristin Rushowy)
The province plans to introduce legislation this fall that will provide child-care supports for women working in the trades, Labour Minister David Piccini said. The move comes as the government ups its efforts to boost the number of women working in construction — and keep them there — amid a 30-per-cent jump in the number of female workers registering as apprentices. “There’s no one silver bullet, but focused round tables and surveys of women have shown a couple of things.
One, personal protective equipment (PPE) matters, and for too long we’ve had women wearing PPE that’s designed for men or larger body types, so we’ve mandated that in construction in a previous working-for-workers bill,” Piccini told the Star in a telephone interview before attending a last week in Cobourg, Ont., one of many hands-on events to be held across the province to promote the trades to teens and their parents. The province also has legislation mandating large construction sites to , something tradeswomen have been asking for.
“Retention is a key piece, and one of the things we’ve heard in the last while is around opportunities for mentorship — programming that the premier and I are looking at going forward,” added Piccini. “In addition to that, child care is a big piece for women in the skilled trades. Ontario does support women going through their apprenticeships with child-care support, and we’re looking at further building on that in the upcoming working-for-workers legislation” expected to be introduced after the legislature resumes, Piccini added.
While the number of women in the trades is on the rise, comprising four per cent of the workforce, retention remains a challenge, with about one-third . A 2022 survey by the Ontario Building and Construction Tradeswomen found child care was among the main challenges women in the sector face. They said more maternity and child-care help is needed, and three-quarters said the hours of construction have posed problems for them.
More than half reported turning down work because they were unable to find any care for their children. Most agreed that there’s little flexibility for them when raising a family. “I encourage more women get into the skilled trades,” Premier Doug Ford said at last Wednesday’s announcement of $26 million in funding for a construction training centre in Vaughan.
“Our skilled-trade workers are the backbone of this province.” While the province does offer some child-care support for women when they are apprentices, “we’re looking to build on those child-care supports in the year ahead, Premier Ford and I,” Piccini said. “These are just some of the many things I think that contribute to retention.
” The government has introduced a number of initiatives to increase interest in the trades, including mandating one high school tech course and creating an easier path to apprenticeship for teens while they continue to earn a high school diploma. The province recorded an increase of about 30 per cent in female apprentice registrations in construction from 2022-23 to 2023-24. When compared to rates in 2017, there’s been a 227 per cent rise.
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