'It still feels unwelcoming': Women speak out on sexism in skilled trades in Ontario
CBC
As more women enter skilled construction trades in Ontario, some say sexism and discrimination still play an exceptionally large role in how they are treated on job sites.
Women only represent five per cent of the construction industry in Canada, and while there has been a push to get typically underrepresented groups into skilled trades, some of those workers say stereotypes persist throughout the sector.
"It still feels unwelcoming," said Samara Sampson, a Red Seal sheet metal worker and co-founder of Women on Site, which advocates for and supports both women and underrepresented groups in construction and trades.
"I've been asked why I'm taking a man's job," Sampson said, adding she has been questioned or sometimes even ignored on job sites.
The province says it will need 100,000 more construction workers and has been encouraging women to join skilled trades, especially as Ontario looks to build a million and a half new homes over the next decade.
"New apprenticeship registrations for women are up nearly 30 percent compared to last spring," a representative from the Ministry of Labour told CBC News in an email.
Sampson says she has noticed that push, but worries not enough is being done to retain those who have chosen trades as a career.
"What about the women who are already here? What's keeping us here now?" she said.
It's the reason Sampson and three other women working in construction formed the group Women on Site last year. She says the organization empowers women in trades through community-building, mentorship and networking.
"We found the camaraderie that we've been missing," says Sampson, adding that it's easy to feel isolated in professions typically dominated by men.
Reta Swift is one of the dozens of members who have joined Women on Site.
A carpenter working in Hamilton, Swift says inappropriate comments, unwanted touching and harassment on job sites are well known to occur.
"Both myself and every other woman I've met who works in the construction trades has dealt with that," she said.
But it's not the only problem she's encountered. Swift says before finding unionized work with her current employer, Reimar Forming & Construction, she struggled with gender wage disparities and had to work a second job when she was an apprentice.
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