Category: News

Jill of All Trades program expands thanks to Owens Corning Foundation

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The Owens Corning Foundation is investing $200,000 to support the national delivery and expansion of Conestoga College’s Jill of All Trades program.

Delivered through the college’s School of Trades & Apprenticeship and the School College Work Initiative since 2014, Jill of All Trades welcomes young women in Grades 9 through 12 for a full day of hands-on workshops focused on skilled trades. Led by female mentors, the event is designed to help young women explore the potential of skilled trades careers. The investment from the Owens Corning Foundation will support the delivery of the program by Conestoga at more locations across the country.

“We greatly appreciate the investment made by the Owens Corning Foundation to bring the Jill of All Trades program to more young women across Canada,” said Conestoga President John Tibbits. “The initiative helps create awareness of the opportunities that exist and advocates for women in non-traditional roles to diversify the workforce and help address the shortage of skilled trades workers.”

Established in 1978 to support the communities Owens Corning employees work and live in across the globe, the Owens Corning Foundation seeks to make a significant impact in areas of critical need, including educational opportunities.

“At Owens Corning, we are passionate about impacting the world and creating meaningful change. We believe that the foundation of success for young women is rooted in exposing them early and often to opportunities that they might not have otherwise considered,” said Asha Burry, Human Resources Leader for Owens Corning Canada. “Our team in Canada is thrilled to have the support of the OC Foundation to provide opportunities for young women to explore alternative career paths. The Jill of All Trades program aligns with our efforts around educational opportunity and our focus on inclusion and diversity.”

A growing skills gap has emerged as the demand to keep pace with population growth and changing workforce demographics increases. Reports indicate more than 700,000 skilled tradespeople are set to retire by 2028. Canada needs more than 167,000 new apprentices alone to keep pace. According to Statistics Canada, women account for roughly four per cent of workers in under-represented skilled trades occupations.

Conestoga is a leader in skilled trades training for women. Through gender-specific programming and mentoring opportunities, the college assists and encourages women to pursue careers in under-represented and non-traditional occupations.

Conestoga is a provincial leader in the delivery of trades and apprenticeship training to serve industry needs and growing communities. Comprehensive programming includes a wide range of programs that provide pathways to employment in skilled trades careers as well as pre-apprenticeship training and in-school training for apprentices.

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Girls Participate in the Jill of All Trades Event hosted by Cambrian College!

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Over 75 girls from Marymount Academy and St. Charles College participated in the Jill of All Trades event  hosted by Cambrian College with the help of many community sponsors, to encourage girls from Grades 7-12 to consider a career in the skilled trades.

This day-long event was packed with activities and hands-on learning, designed to foster in young women a better understanding and appreciation for skilled trades, and inspire them to consider a rewarding  career in skilled trades.

The virtual event included:

  • 3-45-minute interactive workshops showcasing a number of skilled trades offered at Cambrian (Build Your Own Motor, Hydraulic Robot Arm & Wiring an Extension Cord)
  • Keynote address from an amazing guest speaker in the field
  • A tour of Cambrian College labs
  • A Jill of All Trades shirt and a backpack filled with tools and PPE for participants

“This event was two years in the making, and after having to reschedule and retool the scope and delivery of activities, we are beyond thrilled to finally have some of our young women take part in such a great experience”, said Dan Levecque, OYAP and SHSM Co-ordinator for Sudbury Catholic Schools. “We were very impressed with the level of participation and engagement with our students throughout the day, and we have received so much positive feedback from both students and teachers. It certainly exceeded our expectations”

These young ladies were so excited to be able to build and complete their projects successfully.

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Jill of All Trades Day at Conestoga College (2018)

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Conestoga brings in faculty, students, mentors and equipment from all campuses for this event. With 150 volunteers from Conestoga, that is almost a one-to-one match for all attending.

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Jill of All Trades Event at Conestoga College (2019)

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“There’s nothing more powerful than using your mind and your hands to do something that not only maintains the Canada that we’ve started to build, but the Canada that needs to be built for tomorrow.”

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Jill of All Trades event (2015)

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Close to 200 female high school students gathered at Conestoga College’s Cambridge campus for the second Jill of all Trades event, providing young women an opportunity to experience the trades.

Conestoga College presented the event in cooperation with the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, School College Work Initiative and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The event provided 12 trades work stations, where students were given the opportunity to hear from faculty and students about the trade, and get hands-on experience working with the tools of the trade.

“It has been our goal to expose more young women to the trades and engineering,” says Julia Biedermann, executive dean of engineering & IT and trades & apprenticeship programs at Conestoga College.

The Jill of all Trades event was created as a result of a discussion that took place at a conference at Conestoga College just three years ago. The college hosted the Women’s Access to Trades Network conference, which included a conversation that involved policy makers and stakeholders. A representative from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities recommended that the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) could access additional funding to increase exposure events for young women.

Through the School College Work Initiative (SCWU) and a group of eight school boards surrounding Conestoga – extra funding was obtained for the creation of a trades-exposure event geared specifically towards women. Rather than have eight separate events, representatives chose to create one single event, and Jill of all Trades was born.

Conestoga itself has been a leader in providing apprenticeship programs since it opened its doors in 1967, and currently competes with Hamilton’s Mohawk College for the most apprenticeship opportunities available at any Ontario college. However, in the last 10 years, the school has also introduced training for post-secondary students as well.

Previous to the Jill of all Trades event, Conestoga had been providing Explore Your Future events, giving senior elementary and high school students the opportunity to come to the school for half-day trade programs. But the Jill of all Trades event marks the first exposure day that is specifically for female students.

“We figure that, by doing events like this and allowing young ladies to pick a course in high school that will allow them to at least try the skilled trades, then eventually they might come to post-secondary or they’ll go into an apprenticeship program,” explains Brenda Gilmore, program manager for the school of trades & apprenticeship at Conestoga.

The day began with a keynote speech from Danielle Bryk, the host of Bryk House on HGTV Canada. Bryk spoke about the importance of exposing female students to opportunities to the trades while in elementary and secondary schools, and emphasized the amount of opportunities that lie ahead for girls looking to the trades as a career. However, with so few women currently working in the trades, she recognized that there are few opportunities to tell women about the options available.

“One of the reasons why there are so few women joining the industry is that there’s a lack of role models,” Bryk says. “Its important to show young women that this is a viable option for them.”

Already, there are signs that Conestoga’s event could be helping in that regard, even after just two years of holding the event.

“One student who attended in year one, came to Conestoga College for our Women in Skilled Trades (WIST) – General Carpentry program,” Gilmore explains. “She’s an employee for a company now after just one year!”

The 38-week WIST Pre-Apprenticeship General Carpentry certificate program represents one of the many general level trades programs available at one of the College’s five Ontario campuses.

The success of the Jill of all Trades event after just two years provides hope that that the upcoming skilled trades shortage will be met thanks to innovative programs providing new sources of outreach to young students looking for a successful career after high school.

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