Bridging the Gap - Reading Materials - Chapter 03: Bridging the Gap Existing Programs
Introduction
As part of the Bridging the Gap project, EHRC also created a database of existing programs from across Canada to help women in their search for rewarding careers in the electricity industry.
National
National Girls Clubs
Actua’s National Girls Program was established in 1998 to increase the participation of girls in their co-ed camps and has evolved to address the larger known gap in female engagement in science, technology, and engineering studies and careers.
Women in SETT Leadership Program
The Canadian Centre for Women in Science, Engineering Trades and Technology delivers professional development workshops tailored for early- to mid-career female engineers, scientists and technologists in science- and technology-based sectors.
Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering Program
The goal of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)’s Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering Program is to increase the participation of women in science and engineering, and to provide role models for women active in, and considering, careers in these fields.
Women in Construction Engagement Strategy
BuildForce Canada’s Engagement Strategy is made up of 6 elements including: industry leadership, apprenticeship, training, outreach recruitment and retention, policies and procedure, partnerships.
Alberta
Choices Conference at U of A
The University of Alberta’s Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST) Choices Conference brings up to 600 grade-6 girls together to discover the wonders of science, engineering and technology for themselves.
Cybermentor
Cybermentor is an online mentoring program that matches girls aged 11 to 18 with professional women scientists and engineers, or with female students at Alberta universities who are studying science and engineering.
Destination Exploration at U Lethbridge
The University of Lethbridge delivers Destination Exploration Youth Science programs—interactive classroom workshops, exciting summer camps, engaging Friday after-school Science Clubs, birthday parties and numerous other outreach programs and special events.
DiscoverE
DiscoverE is a student-delivered initiative of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta.
Girls Exploring Trades & Technology (GETT)
Skills Canada—Alberta presents an annual GETT conference for high school girls.
IlluminateIT
IlluminateIT is an exciting initiative developed by the University of Alberta’s Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST) in partnership with Girl Guides of Canada.
Journeywoman Start
The Women Building Futures (WBF) Journeywoman Start program is an approved 17-week Integrated Training Program designed to help women prepare for – and succeed – in construction and in oil and gas jobs in the Province of Alberta.
Operation Minerva
Operation Minerva provides opportunities for Grade 8 girls for hands-on experience in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers through-out Calgary, through job-shadowing and mentoring experiences.
Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Conference
Each year, the SET Conference is open to all grade 10-12 high school girls in Alberta who are interested in learning more about careers in science, engineering and technology.
Summer Research Program at U of A
The University of Alberta’s Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST) Summer Research Program provides an awesome opportunity for young women and men who have completed grade 11 to gain first-hand information about the diverse fields in science, engineering and technology disciplines.
Women in Science, Engineering and Research
Women in Science, Engineering, Science and Technology supports and is affiliated with two networks for undergraduates, graduates and early-career female professionals in science, engineering and technology.
Women Building Futures
Women Building Futures is a leader in trades training for women, with extensive experience recruiting women into the heavy industrial workforce at a consistent employment placement rate of 90 per cent.
Atlantic Canada
Trade HERizons
Trade HERizons is designed to increase the number of women in non-traditional trades and technology occupations on PEI.
Orientation to Trades and Technology (OTT)
OTT is designed to give women practical experience of natural resource-based industries.
British Columbia
Women in Engineering (WiE) at UBC
WiE program was established to support women and their peers during their time at the University of British Columbia.
Women in Trades Training (WITT)
The Industry Training Authority’s (ITA) WITT program helps women become ready for trades employment, to register as an apprentice, or to gain a credential in an Industry Training Program.
Gateway to the Building Trades for Women at Okanagan
Okanagan College’s Gateway to the Building Trades for Women provides women with practical and theoretical experiences in a variety of building trade sectors to help them decide which skilled trade is right for them.
Trades Discovery for Women at BCIT
The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) Trades Discovery programs are designed to allow participants extensive access to the available trades and technical training at BCIT campuses.
Manitoba
Manitoba Hydro
Manitoba Hydro recruits women through scholarship and bursary opportunities as well as summer job opportunities.
Trade Up to Your Future
Trade Up Manitoba is a training program that will give women the skills they need to qualify for entry level jobs in non -traditional areas such as welding, machining, electronics and other occupations.
Ontario
Newcomers Connecting to Trades Apprenticeship Resources (NeCTAR)
NeCTAR provides information and resources to internationally trained individuals seeking apprenticeship or employment in the skilled trades in Ontario.
Women in Engineering (WIE) at U Waterloo
The goals of the University of Waterloo’s WIE program are to inform, educate and encourage young women to pursue careers in engineering.
Women in Engineering Mentoring Initiative (WEMI)
WEMI is designed to support women engineering students by helping future women engineers’ transition into a traditionally male-oriented profession.
Women in Skilled Trades
The Women in Skilled Trades program involves three school boards in the province of Ontario who have received targeted funding through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program intended to promote skilled trades to young women.
Women in Skilled Trades and Information Technology Training
The Women in Skilled Trades and Information Technology Training program provides training for women in communities where skilled trades and IT workers are needed.
Women Transitioning to Trades at George Brown
George Brown runs a Women in Transitioning to Trades and Employment Program, which is a five week program that includes an introduction to the skilled trades, school re-entry skills, and academic upgrading.
Quebec
Women’s Centre of Montreal Association
The Centre specializes in the integration of women into sectors where the female workforce accounts for less than 33% of the total.
Promoting Opportunities for Women in Engineering (POWE) at McGill U
POWE at McGill University promotes awareness of and encourage women to join the field of engineering.
Programme d’accès à l’égalité des femmes (PAEF)
The Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ) and its union and employer partners have committed themselves to encouraging women to join the construction industry through its objective-based PAEF.
Saskatchewan
Women in Trades and Technology (WITT) at Sask Polytechnic
Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s WITT program offers a several courses and events for women and girls, and a WITT mentorship program for Sask Polytech students.
Additional Associations and Organizations
The following associations and organizations offer resources to help women in finding rewarding careers in the electricity industry. Employers interested in aiding the recruitment and retention of women should reach out to these recommended organizations:
