Canadian organizations are experiencing a skilled trades labour shortage that is leaving building projects understaffed, delayed, and increasingly expensive. Expanding recruitment to include more women is one way to grow the talent pipeline. Yet women remain significantly underrepresented, making up just 7.9 per cent of tradespeople in Canada. This directly limits the pool of qualified workers that the facilities management industry depends on.
“The majority of FMs don’t have technical expertise and are fully reliant on the few people who have that knowledge within their organization,” says Marcia O’Connor, lead instructor for the University of Toronto School of Continued Studies, Facility Management Certificate Program and Chair of Membership & Education for IFMA’s Greater Toronto and South Central Ontario.
O’Connor, who is also president of AM FM Consulting Group, says many seasoned FM professionals are retiring with in-depth knowledge about mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, while fewer people are entering the field with this acumen. According to Statistics Canada, nearly one in five tradespeople will retire by 2028, further exacerbating the skills gap.
Recruiting more women can help ease the demographic challenges to come, but many face additional barriers that hinder their potential. Angela Coldwell, founder of Honour the Work, a charity that advocates for skilled trades in construction careers beginning in elementary school, says pervasive stereotypes and a lack of female role models make the trades appear less accessible.
“There’s a societal bias that this has been men’s work, which doesn’t make a lot of sense because in World War II, when men were fighting, women were the ones in factories using the tools,” she adds.
That legacy is rarely promoted during career conversations with young women today. When girls do express interest in skilled trades, some guidance counselors and parents continue to steer them away from job sites and toward traditionally “female” roles.
Even women who grow up in skilled trades households encounter this bias. There have been cases where daughters are curious, but families suggest they work in the front office rather than pursue an apprenticeship.
“It’s something that has to be explicitly called out,” says Coldwell. “You can’t get more women in if they’re not given the opportunity. And it’s not just women, but underrepresented individuals across the board.”
Skilled trades also offer wages and stability to help women provide for their families and contribute to the economy. Yet the tools of the trade aren’t presented as viable options despite evidence that women are well suited for this work.
“Women have excellent tactile skills. They’re strong in hand-eye coordination. They listen carefully and can take complex design patterns and execute them,” says Coldwell. “There is nothing saying they cannot do these jobs. And on a modern job site, no one should be lifting heavy equipment independently anyway.”
The demand is there, yet it seems to outpace many supports that could retain women once they do acquire a job. Take Ontario’s construction sector for example. A Ontario Building and Construction Tradeswomen (OBCT) survey in 2025 found that the majority of tradeswomen see a future for themselves in the industry over the next two to five years. Yet according to a 2025 BuildForce Canada report, women comprise only 5 per cent of the tradespeople employed in construction in Ontario.
Retaining more women in the trades
Ontario’s Pay Equity Office recently scrutinized the issues preventing women from succeeding in skilled trades. Building a respectful, safe workplace tops the list. The OBCT survey found the majority of tradeswomen were dissatisfied with how their harassment complaints were handled.
According to Coldwell, this is just another reason why having mentors is key. On sites, where a woman is the only female worker, complaints can lead to blackballing if the environment isn’t properly managed.
“Having a female mentor or very supportive men that are going to advocate is essential,” she says. “Because we are a very male-dominated industry, we need the fathers, the uncles, and the brothers to step up. This has to be collective across the industry, with unions and general contractors saying ‘we’re not going to tolerate this’.”
Last month, Karen Pullen, chair of OBCT, said leadership in the trades doesn’t always come with a title. “It can mean speaking up on a job site, mentoring an apprentice, demanding safer work, or simply showing up for one another when it matters most,” she stated, “These everyday acts of leadership are what change workplaces and industries.”
As well, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training should be mandatory for every worker. Addressing and preventing biases, sexism, and harassment is now law under the Employment Standards Act anti-harassment requirements.
Visible representation in leadership roles also factors into retaining women as it demonstrates viable career progression. Coldwell says the trades, in general, have been framed as a backup plan for students who couldn’t pursue other careers, rather than a first-choice pathway that builds communities and offers people the pride of craftsmanship while using critical thinking skills. Women leaders can further showcase this opportunity for achievement because, as it stands, many advancement decisions are still shrouded in gender bias rather than merit-based.
To further support women’s career trajectories entails fair compensation and inclusive job postings. To help businesses, Ontario’s Pay Equity Office introduced a toolkit for complying with pay equity practices and a gender neutral job ads resource. Advertising supports like childcare and harassment training/policies can help employers differentiate themselves by getting ahead of the barriers female candidates face.
Many tradeswomen are known to turn down jobs due to the incompatibility with childcare arrangements. According to the Canadian Labour Congress, caring for family members, including children and elderly parents, more often falls to women.
“In construction, workers begin early on a job site until a certain hour and it’s very difficult to accommodate shift work if you don’t have someone to take care of your children,” says Coldwell. “It would be a game-changer for both women and men, but it needs to be something close to the job site with extended hours.”
Making headway toward inclusion
While the skilled trades have always been male dominated, efforts are underway to build a more inclusive workforce. Governments and non-profits have been forming active pathways and support systems.
Women Building Futures in Edmonton is helping single mothers and those leaving abusive relationships enter trades to build long-term careers. Honour the Work is advancing STEAM education by providing books, equipment and lesson plans that introduce the skilled trades to elementary students in Canada. Techsploration, a Nova Scotia‑based program, introduces girls to science, technology and trades careers through mentor‑led experiences.
In British Columbia, the BC Centre for Women in the Trades is working to create a diverse, inclusive industry with training, support and resources. In Ontario, the Career Lab is helping high-school students to consider a range of possible futures, including in the skilled trades and facility management fields, while Skills Ontario’s Young Women’s Initiatives offers events and programs that provide development and mentorship opportunities to young women.
Together, these initiatives are boosting women’s participation in the trades and nurturing a talent pipeline for careers that rely on technical knowledge. Trade skills can also be a launchpad into diverse careers like facility management. When O’Connor is counseling students who are pursuing the FM sector, she encourages those with mechanical, electrical and plumbing knowledge to showcase that on their resumes.
“If you look at ROIs, it would be more effective to hire somebody with that expertise versus trying to get it outsourced,” she says. “We need to find these skilled tradespeople to join our organizations or think about it as part of their career path.”
