FANSHAWE COLLEGE
College launching mentorship project focused on supporting women in trades

Fanshawe's Corporate Training Solutions (CTS) is leading the development of a project that aims to recruit, retain and support 1,000 women, women-identifying and non-binary individuals from across Canada to pursue a career in a red seal trade, including carpentry, welding, plumbing, electrical and heavy equipment operator. 

ConnectHER, a female-led mentorship project funded by the Government of Canada's Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy and carried out in partnership with Polytechnics Canada, will engage 1,000 prospective or existing tradeswomen in a supportive one-on-one learning relationship with a mentor who can share their knowledge and experience to enrich the mentees' professional journey. 

The project will consist of five phases that will be implemented until May 2026, which will be informed by a working group of Canadian colleges, women trade organizations, employers and unions. These groups will meet this fall to discuss challenges, identify ways to overcome barriers and explore new ideas on how the mentorship project can help create a welcoming space on the work site. 

The project will be delivered beginning in June 2024. 

"As a leading provider of skilled trades and apprenticeship training in the Ontario college system, Fanshawe is well-positioned to bring key players to the table to address the well-known gender gap in the skilled trades," says Candace Miller, Fanshawe's executive director of Business Development and Strategic Support. "We're excited to develop a mentorship project designed by females to unlock the potential of women in the trades." 

In 2022, only seven per cent of skilled trade workers in Canada identified as women (source: Statistics Canada).