Question Period Note: Gender Equality in Non-Traditional Fields

How is the Government of Canada working to advance women and gender equality in STEM, skilled trades and other non-traditional fields?

• Increasing women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as the skilled trades, is good for the economy and for Canadians. This is true now more so than ever as we look towards economic recovery from COVID-19.

• To support more women entering and succeeding in the skilled trades, Canada has invested in several programs including the Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program, Let’s Talk Science, Apprenticeship Incentive Grants for Women, and the Women in Construction Fund.

• Since November 2015, the Department, through the Women's Program, has approved $11.3M in support of projects to advance women's participation in non-traditional professions in which they are underrepresented, including in STEM.

Despite significant increases in women's levels of education and labour market participation, the gender wage gap remains since other barriers prevent women from reaching their full economic potential. In 2016, women accounted for 54% of postsecondary qualification holders aged 25 to 34, and 57% of those with a postsecondary qualification in science and technology. However, they accounted for only 19% of engineering and engineering technology, and 27% of mathematics and computer and information science postsecondary qualification holders.

The Government of Canada introduced several initiatives to advance women and gender equality in non-traditional fields, including:
• Investments in the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to develop new plans to achieve greater diversity among research funding recipients;
• The Let’s Talk Science program to engage youth in hands-on STEM learning, including promoting STEM to girls and other under-represented groups;
• The Pre-Apprenticeship Program to help Canadians in underrepresented groups explore the trades, gain work experience, develop skills, and find jobs in the trades;
• An Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women in male-dominated Red Seal trades to support their training; and
• The Women in Construction Fund to provide coaching and tailored supports from training to finding and retaining jobs in the trades.

Since November 2015, the Department for Women and Gender Equality, through its Women's Program, has approved some $11.3M in support of projects to advance women's participation in fields where they are underrepresented. For example:
o Women Building Futures is leading a project to improve the economic prosperity of Indigenous women by supporting their hiring and retention in non-traditional occupations in Alberta’s construction, maintenance, and oil and gas sectors.
o The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta is working to increase women’s participation in STEM professions through consultations, an analysis on diversity and pay equity, and the development and piloting of a workplace culture policy.

Data collection must be improved to better understand the labour participation of LGBTQ2 people in Canada and to identify any wage gaps.

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