Calgary teens attend Young Women in Trades and Technologies Spring Camp

Julianne Beeler and Asia Wong prepare a vehicle for painting at the Young Women in Trades and Technology Spring Camp.

CAREERS: The Next Generation is hosting young girls in Grades 10-12 to explore hands-on careers in the skilled trades. It’s part of the Young Women in Trades and Technologies Spring Camp, a one-day immersive experience.

Eloura Mishra, program coordinator for CAREERS: The Next Generation, says the camp is about opening doors and giving young women the opportunity to try these careers firsthand.

“Every year it changes with the ebb and flow of what the industry is, what we like and what there’s a high demand in,” Mishra said.

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“What today is really about is to have that community, to see other women in the industry share their experiences, have young women come in and experience the skilled trades and see that there’s other angles to break those barriers.”

Asia Wong, 18, is one of 12 high school girls taking part in the spring camp.

Wong says she’s always been surrounded by cars and is looking forward to learning as much about the autobody industry that she can.

“Auto body is just something that I want to learn more about. I want to gain more experience and knowledge, and I think this is a great place to do it,” she said. “I think it’s such a beautiful thing to see young girls and women go into trades and male dominated fields.”

Mishra says the initiative comes at a critical time for Alberta’s workforce because she says according to the Alberta Occupational Outlook, the province is projected to need 321,400 skilled trades workers by 2033, and women only make up about nine per cent of the province’s skilled trades workforce.

“A lot of people are now retiring in the industry. There are fewer journey people that are there,” she said. “So, we need to get young people in there making sure that they’re filling that gap, because otherwise we’re going to be in a big trouble economically.”

Chenoa Hansen, SAIT automotive academic co-chair, says the post-secondary facility has seven programs for students in the industry.

Hansen is a fan of programs that expose young women to the trades and says they could always use more women.

“Oh, it’s crucial. We have a huge workforce shortage and it needs to be solved in the next ten years,” she said.

“We have a very small representation of women in the trades; we have about nine per cent of women in Alberta. In automotive sectors, it’s about two to five per cent depending on the actual sector itself, and so we’re finding that need is crucial to fill those work for the work shortage gaps.”

Bill Black, Calgary Construction Association president and CEO, says right now in his industry there are enough trades to go around but it won’t last because a retirement cycle is kicking in over the next five years -- and there’s not enough apprentices to take over.

“There is no doubt that as you look ahead, this will be an ongoing significant challenge for the industry,” Black said.

“We introduced a program that we have now to place in over 900 classrooms in elementary over the last two years, that is curriculum supplements that provide a construction angle and activities and reading material that teachers can use.”

Black says the sooner students realize they can have a viable and successful career in the trades, the better it is for Alberta’s economy.