‘Jill of All Trades’ event at Northern College aims to attract young women to enter skilled trades programs

Northern College's first 'Jill of All Trades' event in Timmins exposed 130+ young women to skilled trades to combat labour shortages.

Northern College hosted a ‘Jill of All Trades’ event at its Timmins Campus. It was an opportunity to introduced young women in grades 9 through 12 to the possibilities of a career in the skilled trades.

Jill of All Trades launched in southwestern Ontario over a decade ago and Thursday, Northern College hosted the event for the first time.

“It’s so important that women get exposure to the trades so they understand what they’re capable of, what opportunities are there for them and we want them to become strong, independent women who are comfortable going into the trades,” said Jamie Johnston, Dean of technology, trades, apprenticeship and mining at Northern College.

“Because it’s very male-driven so we’re trying to bring in more, especially when it comes to the stereotypes so we’re hoping to break that stereotype,” said Carole McLean, Indigenous student recruitment associate for Northern College.

More than 130 young women from local and surround high schools attended the one-day event. They spoke with businesses and companies associated with various sectors; and they visited Northern College’s mechanics, welding and millwright shops.

“When they apply to any of these, they need to have passion, said Johnston.

“They need to be open-minded. We want them to have critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, and of course, they’re prerequisites from high school that they need.”

Some of the students we spoke with say they are indeed interested in a career in the trades.

“Probably operating heavy equipment so like an excavator or stuff like that”, said Leah Lavigne an O’Gorman Catholic High School student.

“I really, really like working around technology and especially environmental like, hydroelectricity and working around wires is pretty fun,” said Bella Taylor, another O’Gorman Catholic High School student.

And, Brooklyn Mykytyszyn Lauzon, also from O’Gorman Catholic High School said mechanics is of interest to her.

“My dad works in automotive, and it’s always interest me because he I grew up doing it,” she said.

This opportunity also gave students a chance to meet a second year Northern College student, Gabrielle Larocque, who just won a gold medal in the millwright category at the recent Skills Ontario Competition.

“In my category, there were four different categories,” said Larocque.

“Shaft alignment, tube bending, project pneumatics and then bearing installation. That’s a lot of stuff that you do see in your curriculum as well, but I really think that at the Skills Ontario level, you are going above and beyond what you learn in your classroom, and that’s through the help with teachers who put the time in and really get you the tools and resources to get there.”

The second year student will compete at the national level in Regina at the end of the May.

According to Jill of All Trades, Canada needs more than 167,000 new apprentices in the next five years.