Women in Trades: Progress Report

The skilled trade sector is vital to Canada’s economy and nation-building projects, but it is facing a significant labour shortage. This shortage has worsened in recent years due to an aging labour market. In response to the mounting pressure created by labour gaps, the Government of Canada to invest in 2026 Team Canada Strong, a $6 billion initiative designed to recruit, train, and hire up to 100,000 additional Red Seal workers over the next five years.

At the same time, women remain vastly underrepresented in most skilled trades as a result of barriers that inhibit women’s entry, advancement, and retention in the skilled trades sector. While investments such as Team Canada Strong have been made to fill labour gaps, workforce expansion strategies will see limited impact if systemic barriers to women’s participation in the skill trades go unaddressed. As such, this report explores longstanding barriers to women’s participation in the skills trades and identifies strategies and initiatives intended to address these barriers. To do so, the report’s authors examine Canadian and international approaches to promoting gender equity in the skilled trades.

Findings

The report’s authors identified the following barriers to women’s participation in the skilled trades at the societal, organizational, and individual levels:

• Societal: Societal stereotypes portray skilled trades as non-traditional pathways for women, challenging their entry and participation in the sector.
• Organizational: Hostile environments in educational settings and workplaces lead to unequal opportunities for women in trades, especially apprentices.
• Individual: Individuals tasked with recommending trades careers to girls often lack accurate information needed to support career pathing. 

Based on the examination of the barriers, the authors identified the following promising practices to advance gender equity in the skilled trades:

• Societal: Targeted funding initiatives under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy (CAS) and Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) tie infrastructure investments to equity goals, leading employers and training providers to invest in supports for women.
• Organizational: Programs targeted towards women can improve completion rates for women during their training journeys. Examples of programs include union and college-led mentorship programs and pre-apprenticeship streams.
• Individual: Motivating women and girls to join the skilled trades workforce can be achieved through individual empowerment such as comprehensive career-mapping tools and school-based outreach. 

Conclusions and Recommendations

Based on the findings, the following selected recommendations provide guidance for promising actions that should be taken to promote women’s participation in the skilled trades:

• Governments should set direction, establish standards, and fund infrastructure needed to scale what works. 
• Organizations should translate policy into day-to-day practice by establishing strong leadership, inclusive practices, accountable measurement, and cross-sector partnerships.
• Women and girls should be provided with career pathing guidance including wraparound supports and mentors and role models. At the educational level, parents, teachers, and guidance counselors should have access to accurate information about trades careers and pathways to help guide girls who want to enter the skilled trades.

For the full findings and recommendations on promoting gender equity in the skilled trades, read the full report.