Nine women from the Downtown Eastside were given a final tip of the hard hat Thursday when the Women in Trades Training (WTT) initiative sent them on to a promising career in the trades.
The 10-week program, funded by the Crown’s Industry Training Authority (ITA), aims to open a career in trades to women with few job skills or who have been out of the workforce for a prolonged period of time.
ITA manager Erin Johnston said Thursday that the program is designed to help these women overcome the barriers they face when entering the trades.
“If their barriers are child care or transportation or tuition, the program helps them cover those costs,” she said.
Johnston said they also help graduates deal with any barriers they encounter after joining the industry, citing one woman whose employer did not have a women’s bathroom.
Johnston said that women make up just 10.4 per cent of working trades-people in B.C.
New graduate Julia Marshburs, a 28-year-old who studied joinery, said that the program gives trainees more than just technical skills.
“It gives you the mindset to get into the industry,” she explained.
“It helps you break it down into a series of achievable goals.”
Graciana Torres, another recent graduate, emigrated from Brazil last October and is now working in the trades for the YWCA.
“As an immigrant,” she said, “I didn’t have all the contacts I would need to get a job like this.”
Getting a job is just half the battle, though.
“Our graduates are getting the work,” Johnston said. “What we want to focus on now is seeing that they get sponsorship for further technical training.
“These women are just so excited, so proud. They’re finally in a career that’s in demand.”
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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