The Office to Advance Women Apprentices (OAWA) Alberta is celebrating the grand opening of its office in Edmonton on International Women’s Day.

Carpenters’ Regional Council (CRC) received $2.354 million from the Government of Canada under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy Women in Skilled Trades Initiative for the Alberta OAWA project.

OAWA Alberta offers ongoing support to tradeswomen seeking work or already employed in the skilled construction trades. In addition to offering a suite of individualized wrap around services for applicants, the office has developed strategic industry partnerships to connect tradeswomen to employers.

The new Alberta office is located in Edmonton at #177, 15210 123 Ave. OAWA Alberta has plans to open additional offices in Fort McMurray (scheduled for summer 2024) and Calgary (scheduled for 2025).

“We’re focused on educating women about the incredible career opportunities available to them in the skilled construction trades and creating pathways for them to succeed,” said Emma Pollard, project director for OAWA Alberta. “Working in collaboration with our industry partners, we are committed to enhancing a worksite culture that supports women in a male dominated industry.”

To date, the organization has assisted with more than 2,000 employment opportunities and has provided job-related supports to more than 4,000 women across Canada.

While the International Women’s Day 2024 campaign theme is to ‘Inspire Inclusion’, women unfortunately continue to be underrepresented in the skilled construction trades. According to a 2021 Build Force survey, women accounted for seven per cent of the skilled trades workforce in Alberta.

In Canada, women comprise 47.5 per cent of the labour force, but only represent 8.6 per cent of skilled trades workers (Statistics Canada, 2022).

OAWA Alberta supports 39 key identified Red Seal construction trades. Anyone in Alberta over the age of 16 who identifies as a woman and is seeking support to either enter or advance their skilled construction trades career, or to achieve Red Seal certification, is eligible for support at no cost.

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