Women Remain Underrepresented in Canada’s Skilled Trades. What Will It Take to Change That?

As the skilled trades sector confronts labour shortages due to an aging workforce, lower immigration rates and increased demand due to major infrastructure and manufacturing, critical minerals, energy and transportation projects Canada is now investing billions in building its skilled trades workforce, understanding what helps women, Indigenous and other equity-deserving groups enter, stay and advance in these careers is becoming increasingly important. Women alone represent half of the workforce, yet are grossly under-represented in skilled trade jobs. 

The federal government has, so far, committed $8 billion over five years to Team Canada Strong, (external link)  an end-to-end strategy to recruit, train and hire between 80,000 and 100,000 new Red Seal trades workers by 2033. 

Research from the Diversity Institute (DI) continues to examine the barriers limiting participation in Canada's workforce and the approaches that can help employers address them, from early exposure and apprenticeship pathways to wraparound supports, mentorship and more inclusive workplaces. The good news is that public attitudes are also changing. DI research with the Environics Institute (external link)  and supported by the Future Skills Centre (FSC) found 59% of Canadians would recommend a job-oriented trades or apprenticeship pathway to a young person, compared with 26% who would recommend a general university degree. At the same time,  increased interest has not translated into equal participation.  

The latest skilled trades research from DI, supported by FSC with collaboration from Electricity Human Resources Canada (external link) , Toronto Community Benefits Network (external link) , Electricity Canada (external link)  and Build A Dream (external link) ; the Women in Trades: Progress Report, shows that women remain significantly underrepresented in many of Canada’s skilled trades. The Red Seal Program establishes common national standards for designated skilled trades across Canada and supports the recognition and mobility of qualified tradespeople across provinces and territories. According to the 2021 Census, women represented 14.8% of Canada’s Red Seal trades workforce. However, that figure masks a significant concentration of women in a small number of service trades. When cook, baker and hairstylist are excluded, women represented just 5.2% of the Red Seal trades workforce.

Women are also significantly underrepresented in the apprenticeship pathways that feed many of the country’s largest skilled trades. In the core Red Seal trades of electrical, carpentry, plumbing and automotive service, women represented only 4.3% to 6.9% of apprenticeship registrations.

“The skilled trades are essential to Canada’s economic future, but we cannot address labour shortages if we continue to overlook half the population,” said Wendy Cukier, Academic Research Lead for FSC and Founder and Academic director of DI. “We need to understand and address the barriers that women and other equity-deserving groups and Indigenous people face at every stage—from training and apprenticeship to retention and advancement—and scale the approaches that we know are working. Our research clearly defines the challenges. These include attracting youth to the trades sector as a valued pathway; ensuring apprentices complete certification despite attrition pressures and incentives not to; supporting transition into and retention within the labour market, where equity-deserving groups exit disproportionately; and improving inclusion.” While the proportion of women in trades increasing marginally, in 1996, women made up 7.6% of apprenticeship registrations across major trade groups and, nearly three decades later, that share has risen only to 12.5%, women are still very under-represented. More troubling still is that even when women enter the trades, depending on which trade, retention is a challenge. For example, carpentry has historically seen up to 70% of women leave the trade within their first two years, while trades with higher concentrations of women (such as hairstylist and early childhood educator) show better retention and even higher certification rates for women.

Underrepresentation also has significant economic consequences. Eight years after certification, women certified in Red Seal trades earn only 46% of men’s earnings, a disparity driven largely by occupational segregation. They are also largely absent from some of the highest-paying trades, including crane operation, heavy-duty equipment mechanics and industrial electrical work.

The slow pace of change comes as workforce pressures are mounting. Up to 700,000 tradespeople are expected to retire by 2028, while the construction sector alone is projected to require more than 1.4 million new workers by 2033. Increasing women’s participation across the trades pathway will be critical to building the workforce needed to meet Canada’s housing, infrastructure and clean-growth ambitions.

Those barriers can begin with gender stereotypes and limited exposure to trades careers and continue through training and employment. Women can face difficulties securing apprenticeship sponsors, accessing networks and training opportunities, as well as harassment, unwelcoming worksites, ill-fitting equipment and inadequate accountability.

The research also identifies promising approaches. Programs that combine targeted recruitment with paid training pathways, mentorship, wraparound supports, employer engagement and workplace culture change can help women access training, secure placements, remain in the trades and advance.

But promising practices remain fragmented across trades, regions and organizations. Stronger coordination, shared measures and sustained investment are needed to identify successful approaches and bring them to a scale capable of driving broader change.

Read the full Women in Skilled Trades report to explore the recommendations for building a more inclusive skilled trades workforce.

The research will also inform two upcoming conversations about Canada’s skilled trades workforce. The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum webinar, Plugging the Leaky Pipeline: From Attracting Diverse Apprentices to Retaining and Advancing Them, will explore what employers, unions and training providers can do to turn recruitment gains into lasting careers.

Build a Dream’s 2026 Dreamer Day VIP Breakfast will bring together leaders from government, industry and community to discuss early exposure, talent pipeline development and the partnerships needed to build Canada’s future workforce.