Women in Manufacturing

Untapped potential

In Canada, women account for 48 per cent of the labour force but only 29 per cent of the manufacturing workforce. For more than 30 years this job share rate has not changed. Attracting more women into manufacturing professions is not only critical to help companies grow and replace their aging workforce, it provides women with careers that are high value, high tech, highly skilled and high paying. To better understand the current realities of women in manufacturing CME released Untapped Potential, an action plan identifying five areas where action is needed in order to increase the number of women in manufacturing:

More female role models are needed to inspire and encourage young women
Access to modern manufacturing facilities to help change the perception of manufacturing
More efforts to encourage young girls to pursue an education in STEM and/or the skilled trades
Businesses need to adopt more inclusive workplaces
Business need to find creative ways to improve work-life balance for employees.

IF YOU CAN SEE ME, YOU CAN BE ME.

Scroll below to learn about the many rewarding careers in manufacturing. Be inspired. Click here to submit your story.

We Can Do It!

CME’s Women in Manufacturing initiative aims to increase the number of women in manufacturing by 100,000 by 2030, bringing the total jobs held by women in manufacturing to 600,000 in 2030.

We need your support!

Become a Champion. Pledge your support to help increase the number of women in the manufacturing sector. Celebrate your success. Share on social media, within your community and supply chain the steps you are taking to lead a diverse workforce. Choose to challenge your peers. Together, we can do it!

See our current Champions.

Become a Champion - SIGN UP NOW TO PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT!

Champion Commitment

As a Champion of Women in Manufacturing, I commit to:

Take action towards achieving meaningful and substantive improvements in supporting inclusion and diversity within my organization; and,
Work towards increasing the number of women, aiming for diversity across our organization in accordance with the government’s 50-30 challenge.

Name*
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Title
Company
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Has your organization set a goal for inclusion and diversity? Please share. (Optional)

Leverage CME’s Gender Inclusion and Diversity toolkit to achieve your goals. The toolkit is made for manufacturers, by manufacturers. It is open source and provides a suite of practical tools. The tools provide a set of individual learnings and actions that manufacturers can take to help make the workplace better for everyone.

As a Champion of women of manufacturing, you will receive:

Certificate of Commitment to share in your workplace and a downloadable badge/certificate to display on your website demonstrating your commitment to increasing female representation the workforce.
Be listed as a champion on CME’s Women in Manufacturing website.
Access to CME’s Women in Manufacturing events.

Get Involved today

Contact: Gozde Kazazoglu, Manager, Workforce Policy and Programs – Gozde.Kazazoglu@cme-mec.ca

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS

HERStory | Karen Lai

"What I enjoy most is building a company from scratch and creating an environment that I want to work in, and hope others will want to as well."

HERStory | Kendra Cruson

"From welders, painters, material handlers, production planners, engineers, and more, women can do anything within the manufacturing sphere. I truly believe that. It’s an industry that can take you to places you never dreamed of."

HERStory | Kathleen Garney

"I’ve seen... women not feeling comfortable and confident showing their full self at work. Often, we may feel compelled to emulate behaviors that are defined as masculine instead of leading from a position of strength and leveraging attributes typically defined as feminine."

HERStory | Michelle Finley

"There is nothing wrong with asking your leaders for more opportunity and bigger roles - but you need to be ready to show them why you’re ready to move up."

HERStory | Barb Willoughby

"It was a whole new world of careers that the door opened for me when I landed my first job for a manufacturing company."

HERStory | Rachel McKinley

"My favourite part of my job is creating new things and the creativity that comes with that. Making chocolate is the perfect blend of science and art. That whole combination is really satisfying."

HERStory | Alexandra Salzmann

"Manufacturing wasn’t my first choice when I graduated. I kind of fell into it. I was a new grad trying to get my foot in the door and I ended up in the industry. I’m glad I did because I never realized what an interesting career being in manufacturing could be."

HERStory | Robyn Dufresne

"There are barriers for women that simply aren’t there for men. Having the opportunity to talk about them makes people feel less alone. If we address those barriers, we will retain more women."

HERStory | Lisa Ali-Learning

"I didn’t realize at that time that I’d be getting into manufacturing, but I’ve learned that manufacturing is very fun and exciting. To be able to see something start from the ingredients, right up to the final product, and to be able to produce that yourself – it’s really rewarding that you get to see the whole process."

HERStory | Marina Costa

"Don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t do it! If there is something you want to do, just do it, even if it is outside your comfort zone, as that is when you learn the most."

HERStory | Pam McEwing

“It was a nice evolution to go to Nature’s Way and have production as a part of my role. I think that it’s really fulfilling that every day we are making something out of nothing.”

HERStory | Angela Pappin

“Having women see me and how I can manoeuver through and I am integrated, that to me is important. It is the only way women can really say, ‘I can do this’.”

HERStory | Tracy Spear

“There is nothing more satisfying now that I see the parts we make in everyday life. I guess this goes hand in hand with why we felt it was so important, and it is so important, to have diversity in our workforce because the diversity drives the innovation to make different things and see things in a different way.”

HERStory | Susan Bettencourt

"When the opportunity arose with Floradale, although unfamiliar to me from an agricultural perspective, I loved that I was a part of producing something again and I was excited to make an impact."

HERStory | Manjusha Gabhane

"When I joined, the biggest challenge for me was dealing with big machines. It requires proper training. There were some challenges when I started as there was so much for me to learn. I also had to learn about the safety guidelines for working with such big machines. So, I focused on all these learnings during my training. Everyday I learnt new things. Good training and your own focus, makes you perfect!"

HERStory | Lola Adeyemi

"If you realize there’s a gap in the market, create it – invent that product, create that solution. I really encourage women to do that and not wait for somebody else. Even if you're not an inventor, even if you don't have the funds, find a way to pitch your idea and get some funding to create it yourself."

HERStory | Natacha Rey

"The way we make every single physical item on the planet needs to be re-imagined for a better world and future for humanity. Our male counterparts spear-headed the industrial revolution...now it's our turn. Just watch and see!"

HERStory | Rosemary Cescolini

"I've been in manufacturing for 30 years and I’m just getting started. I wake up every day and I’m excited. What am I going to create today? It’s a recipe for happiness. That’s what a career in manufacturing would be."

BLOG POST – SHERRY PARKER

"According to Sherry Parker, current Chair of CME-SWOB, society still has room to grow in accepting women in manufacturing and leadership roles. Sherry believes women in manufacturing need to be celebrated to encourage more females into the industry."

HERSTORY | Sarah Harris

"I have always wanted to dedicate my work to solving social, environmental and economic issues: the manufacturing industry is vital to supporting each of these factors."

HERStory | Emily O'Brien

"Mistakes are universal, but so are comebacks. Find the humour in everything. It doesn’t mean that life is a joke, but when you can laugh at something, it means you own it, you accept it and you’ve moved on."

HERStory | Tricia Grardin

"Like so many other women, I never planned a career in manufacturing but fell in love with “operations” during some university courses. I have been blessed with finding a career I am passionate about and hope that other young ladies consider manufacturing as an exciting career choice."

HERStory | Sylvie, LeBlanc, P.Eng

"Manufacturing also offers so many opportunities to see different areas of the business and learn something new every day. There are no limits to what we can improve on in manufacturing."

HERStory | Barbara Robbi

"Do the best you can do, but don’t try to solve all the problems at once as some things are beyond your control. Stop, think, and get more people involved. Manufacturing is all about team efforts."

HERStory | Marcia Stinson

"Working in manufacturing was something I never ever thought of doing. My BA is in Political Science, and my sights were set on law school. Although not on my radar, I was surprised at how I adapted and how much I truly enjoyed working in manufacturing."

HERStory | Angela Jessop

"Manufacturing isn’t dark, dingy, or dangerous – it’s exciting, ever changing, and you’ll never be bored. There’s a feeling of accomplishment when you troubleshoot an issue or solve a problem, and there’s always opportunity for continuous improvement."

HERStory | Cindy Dandurand

“Having women in positions of authority has always been with our company, since the beginning,” says Dandurand. “The culture of our company was inclusive right from the start.”

HERStory | May Scally

“Manufacturing attracts competent creative people who know how to bring together materials, components, skillsets, tools, and teams, to produce valuable products that make all our lives better."

HERStory | Heidi Reimer-Epp

“I think it’s very satisfying having something tangible in your hands. I find that so much of our lives are in our heads and our thumbs on our devices. So having a job where we have a plant, you can walk around, you see people making things, you look at the products and you discuss and design … I really like that because so much of the rest of my life is in my head, sitting at a desk.”

HERStory | Jill Hanna

"My journey in manufacturing has been a very interesting one. It started about 25 years ago, when I moved up to Calgary having quit an old position in dental lab. At that time, Nortel’s manufacturing team was hiring. So, I kind of fell into the manufacturing industry."

HERStory | Anita Paquin

"I have been in manufacturing for 18 years now! 8 years in Metrie and before that was with a sister company. Before joining this industry, I was waitressing for 17 years. One day, I had enough with a customer. A friend had just got into manufacturing that time and I asked her to get me a job there too."

HERStory | Brigitte Gall

"Oftentimes, manufacturing will take you to places you had no idea you would end up. And there's lots of room for growth and a whole new world of opportunities. It’s so important to open yourself up to career opportunities in the trades."

HERStory | Lisa Hallsworth

"We need women to be part of this transformative change that we’re going through and help shepherd the change with a keen eye on climate change, safety, and all those things that kind of come naturally to us. Manufacturing is such a rewarding place to work and offers so many invaluable learning opportunities."

HERStory | Veneise George

"We still have a long way to go when it comes to encouraging young girls to be able to tap into their explorative nature and seek career paths in sectors like manufacturing. There’s so much room for all of us in this sector."

HERStory | Tanya Forde

"After I graduated in 2016, I applied to several jobs that were looking for industrial electricians but none were wanting to take on an apprentice. It was discouraging, but I did not give up hope."

HERStory | Autumn Quenville

“Currently I am attending Confederation College in the Mechanical Engineering Technician program [2018-2020]. I recently graduated from the Welding Techniques program [2017-2018] with a Canadian Welding Bureau ticket for Shielded Metal Arc Welding. Attending these programs so far from home, created a lot of opportunities for me, not only as a woman, but also as an Indigenous woman.”

HERStory | Katie Neilson

“My goals in welding are simple. I want to remain prideful in the projects I am a part of and inspire those around me to be patient and challenge the limits of themselves and their material.”