How a new millwright program plans to keep more women in the trades
Emergency child care funds part of the 'wrap-around services' provided to support women
A new millwright training program, which launched in Windsor, Ont., this week aims to not only get more women into the trades — but keep women in the industry.
"No woman goes without support," the president and founder of Build a Dream Nour Hachem declared, at the launch event for the Introduction to Millwrighting Program for Women on Monday.
It's a partnership between the Build a Dream organization and the Millwright Regional Council that provides eight women with six weeks of training and followed by a direct placement in the field.
"Women only make up 2.6 [per cent] of female millwright apprentices in Ontario," Hachem said. "That's a very low number and that's a number that we are working tirelessly to change."
The goal is to provide women with the support they need to thrive in a field where retention of female employees can be a challenge. Hachem explained that only 30 per cent of women complete their Red Seal Trade, compared to 60 per cent of men.
One of the "wrap-around services" this program provides is emergency child care funding in case a female employee's child is sick. Build a Dream will find them a babysitter so that the child is cared for while the parent still gets to go to work.
"Women should not have to pay an extra tax to get to work," Hachem said.
'It's gonna give me the leg up that I need'
Tracey Mohammed, a mother of five, is one of the eight members of the Windsor cohort. The child care funding makes a "huge difference" in her life.
"Having that back up will really help so I won't miss work," Mohammed said.
She explained that she had previously gone through a millwright pre-apprenticeship program but was not able to find work afterwards. She feels positive that this time will be different because with this particular training program, every cohort member gets a placement with a company at the end of the six weeks.
"It's gonna give me the leg up that I need," Mohammed said.
Fresh out of high school, 19-year-old Emma Brimner said she's "very excited" to be a part of the program after going through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program while in high school.
"Ready to learn," she said. "Ready to start my career."
In addition to services like child care funding and mentorship, the program also works with the UHC - Hub of Opportunities to bring in adult educators to refresh skill levels in areas like mathematics to make sure that all of the trainees are successful in writing their aptitude test at the end of the six weeks.
The very first training session through this program launched in Oshawa earlier this year. This is the second cohort, and the first in Windsor.