'Nothing girls can't do:' Ontario's 1st female licensed plumber marks 50 years in the trade

Deborah Johnston — or Debbie as she prefers to be called — remembers the day in the early 1970s when she was working in the office of her dad's plumbing business in Ingersoll, Ont., and a provincial official walked in.

He wanted to know if anyone was interested in becoming a plumbing apprentice.

"I told him there was nobody there except my dad and me," recalled Johnston, 69. "And he said, 'Well, how about you?'" 

When he returned a couple of days later, Johnston signed up to become an apprentice, and by 1977 had become Ontario's first female licensed plumber.

Now retired, Johnston remembers her early days on the job and is encouraging other women to consider a career in the skilled trades.

"I was a good service plumber," said Johnston, who used her maiden name, Davies, on her plumbing licence.

Although she was the only woman in her courses at Fanshawe College, Johnston said she was always treated with respect.

"The guys were very helpful. I was terrible at welding, so they helped me, and when they needed help with writing or spelling, then I'd help them with that, or their math. So it was like a two-way street."

She got the same support out in the community.

"A lot of them knew me because of my dad. Everybody that I talked to in Ingersoll during those years said nothing but good things.

"The only time I ran into any kind of a negative comment was when I got to London for my first course at Fanshawe," said Johnston. "The London Free Press came and did a story on me when I was in Fanshawe in 1974, and they asked other people in the industry their opinion. There was one person who said, 'Oh, that'll be the girl who thinks she can be a plumber.'"

With Ontario facing a generational labour shortage as many skilled tradespeople approach retirement age, there's a push to get more young people and women to enter the trades.

According to its April report, Build Force Canada projects Ontario will lose 18 per cent of its 2022 construction workforce in the next decade and will need to find 119,000 new workers during that time.

Later this month, Fanshawe College, in partnership with CWB Welding Foundation, will be offering a fully funded welding program for women and women-identifying individuals. Thirteen other institutions across Canada also offer the program.