As Alberta’s population continues to boom, the need for more housing will grow along with it, meaning more and more individuals will be required to work in the trades. Over the years, more and more women have taken to picking up the tools.
Claire LeBlanc started out in her career as an electrician, eventually opting to return to school to become an aircraft maintenance engineer. For her, getting into the trades was a simple choice.
“I could get in right away,” explained LeBlanc. “I could start making money right away, and then there was some school I could do later.”
LeBlanc’s daughter, Angeline Noble, who recently graduated from high school, hopes to follow in her mom’s footsteps, choosing a career in the trades. They spent Saturday at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) during the spring open house, exploring the many options available.
“I was really looking for anything to do with mechanics,” Noble said. “Looking at mechanics with cars and motorcycles, that was pretty interesting.”
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Noble continued by saying if it wasn’t for her mom, she wouldn’t feel as confident pursuing the trades.
“With her being an electrician, she’s more like a role model,” said Noble. “So it’s like not only can men be in it, but so can I.”
According to Tammy Amstutz with the Calgary Construction Association, the more women that join the trades the better.
“Women on-site actually represent less than one in 10, and if we’re looking at statistics for the entire industry, it’s barely more than one in 10,” Amstutz said. “We have seen that number trend upwards and it’s because of efforts from some incredible organizations in Calgary and across Alberta.”
And besides the vast amount of trades to pick from, Amstutz says the potential career path within each trade has plenty of room for growth.
“Being able to develop into a site superintendent, getting into the office as an estimator or project manager, there’s more on-ramps and off-ramps to careers in the construction industry than most others.”
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