(Montreal) A change in culture regarding the presence of women in the construction industry is indeed perceptible, but their progress remains slow and challenges remain, concludes the Commission de la construction du Québec.
Posted at 4:14 p.m.
The CCQ has just produced a report on the first two phases of its Equal Access Program for women, which looks at the years 2015 to 2021.
General statistical data was released last spring: the industry now has 6,234 working women, or 3.27% of the workforce in the industry.
Except that this target of “at least 3% of women” was reached in 2021… while the industry had set itself the objective of reaching it in 2018.
The progress of women in this traditionally male industry is therefore real, but slow, even if the entire industry has mobilized to improve the situation: unions, companies, training centres, associations and other actors.
“A mobilization of PAEF (access to equality program) stakeholders has been noted, the observation of the under-representation of women is recognized and actions have been put in place, both in training and in employment, to support women’s journey and create favorable environments, demonstrating the beginnings of a culture change in the industry”, concludes the Commission de la construction in its report.
Other challenges
Among the challenges that still need to be addressed: women are concentrated in certain trades or occupations. “Few targets by trade and occupation are reached,” writes the CCQ.
For example, they even exceeded their target for the trades of painter (22.9%, target of 15%), resilient flooring installer (5.2%, target of 3%) and carpenter-joiner (2.15% , 2% target).
There are then 10 trades and three occupations where they are getting closer to their target, then 12 trades and three occupations where they are far from reaching their target, including those of surveyor, diver, scrap metal worker and mechanical shovel operator.
Another challenge: the dropout rate for women in the industry is higher than for men. Thus, after one year, 21% of women leave and 14% of men. And after five years, 53% of women leave and 32% of men.
Similarly, the average annual hours of work completed by them is lower than that of men. The average annual hours of women (766) remained lower than that of men (1039) in 2021.
On the business side too, there is a long way to go. The CCQ notes that although 15% of construction companies hired at least one woman in 2021, 66% only hired one.