This Windsor student wanted to join the skilled trades. It was her parents who needed convincing

Avery Brooks is a high school grad and is pursing a career in construction in the midst of a shortage of trade workers.

Lack of educators, low profile of the paths to skilled trades and more stand in the way of most young people's way to the industry.

For Avery, however, one of her barriers were her parents. For them, putting their kid on a pathway to the trades took some adjusting.

"I just really liked construction. I think I've always known that a desk job, and working like that wasn't for me," Avery said.

With a father in law enforcement and mother in marketing, Avery had to do some extra work to prove to her parents this was what she wanted.

"It was more of an evolution, a little bit," said her mother, Jennifer Brooks.

Avery's interest began in Grade 9 when she took a female-only class in construction. Then, her parents thought it was only a hobby. 

In Grade 10, teachers asked Avery to consider going into construction academy, and when she started seriously thinking about it, it took her parents a moment to process it.

That launched Jennifer and her husband into a year-and-a-half gather of information to ensure this was something Avery wanted to do.

'Information was not readily available'

Amid record high job vacancies in sectors like construction and manufacturing and with the workforce retiring with not enough young people entering the workforce, new registrations for apprenticeship programs have risen, according to Statistics Canada, but not to pre-pandemic levels.

One of the barriers Jennifer and her husband faced when researching was the lack of information available. Jennifer said she didn't know colleges offered apprenticeships.

"Information was not readily available," she said.

"[In our] time, the school system devoted entire weeks to both college and university information sessions. If we were lucky, maybe a table at a lunch break for the skilled trades."

Concerns over safety

Another of Jennifer's concerns was her daughter's safety.

"Guidance counselors in Grade 9 with Avery, when she expressed that she wanted to be in the skilled trades, one response was 'she's too pretty,'" she said.

"We knew she fit in, we knew that she was skilled, we knew that she could do very well in this. It was just wanting to make sure she was safe in that environment."

She expressed concerns that her daughter and other young people did not "fit the mould" of other workers in the trade in most people's eyes, so trying to find ways to support her in a field where others might not was vital.

Avery had her first paid day at work on Wednesday after graduating from St. Joseph's Catholic High School and its construction co-op program.

"We do residential mostly, like all residential rough framing, mainly houses built from the bottom to the top, like full new builds," she said.

She wants other young people to consider going into skilled trades, and asked teachers to lay it on the table as an option to students when starting conversations about their future careers.

As for Jennifer, she said after the experience with her daughter, she would encourage young people and parents to see the trades as a first option.

"Listen to your child, listen to what they want to do. And if you're not sure, explore those options," she said.