Well, I can’t pretend that I don’t know women have it… a little more difficult than men when it comes to pretty much anything. When you’re trying to earn your diploma in the trades it can be even more difficult. But, JPD is here to help women in their respective fields, find programs that are right for them.

YWCA Toronto offers a lot of great programs for women in the trades. YWCA Toronto offers a 34-week program in partnership with George Brown College. This free training program is for women interested in becoming a residential air conditioning systems, mechanic and gas technician. The programs offer things like better hours, higher pay, and a chance for self-employment. Women 16 and older are eligible to apply.

There are also programs available for electricians. This particular one is in partnership with Centennial College for a 33-week program. You learn things like job readiness, training in refrigeration and air conditioning, and an 8-week work placement when you’re all done with the program.

Mohawk College offers programs for women as well, not to mention they include several facts on their web page discussing women’s roles in trades: “Shortages in skilled trades have forced industry to think differently about who they can attract, retain and promote within the skilled trades. This change of view has been able to provide an abundance of opportunities for women who are considering skilled trades careers.”

Obviously, women’s programs are not just sequestered in Ontario. British Columbia’s Okanagan College Women in Trades Training offers tons of opportunities for women to learn about the trades. They have the chance to learn about plumbing, welding, sheet metal, and automotive, among other things.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic gives women the opportunity to attend specific sessions for carpentry (repairing holes in and applying sheath to drywall, framing walls), basic tasks in electrical and plumbing trades, and welding (cleaning, cutting tools, learning to weld steel).

Women Building Futures is another great tool for female students to use as a source of empowerment and information, but also for application deadlines. The articles offered on their site range from Aboriginal women talking about their role in construction and local employers who are working to make a difference for women in the workplace.

Nova Scotia Advisory Council on The Status of Women provides women with information on lots of programs readily available for them to apply to. Programs like Techsploration, Webgrrls International, and Women in Global Science and Technology are all linked on their main site so female students can look at which ones interest them.

The time for women to “prove” themselves ended a long time ago. Women are just as valuable as men in any trade and now, it’s easier than ever for women to enter programs and become whatever they want to.