A Saskatchewan summer camp is teaching young girls the tricks of the trades, in hopes of attracting more females into a male-dominated field.
Saskatchewan Polytechnic is hosting Girls Exploring Trades and Technology (GETT) camps at its campuses in Moose Jaw, Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
The camps offer hands-on learning in skilled trades and technology to girls in Grades 6 to 8.
At the Saskatoon campus, campers learned skills in carpentry, welding and electrical work this week.
“It helps build confidence in them,” said Allison Smith, program head of Women in Trades and Technology (WITT) at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
Smith is a journeyperson welder and metal fabricator. She said she started learning about the trades at the same age as these campers.
“Looking back, I see such huge value,” she told CTV News.
The skilled trades lack women journeypersons, Smith said.
The latest data shows females made up just 12.5 per cent of apprenticeship program registrations in 2024, according to Statistics Canada.
“That has really been a lot of the work that WITT does,” Smith said. “We are trying to help that number grow.”
Increasing representation takes time. After years of running camps, Smith said she is just now starting to see former campers pursue courses in the trades.
“I am now seeing them enroll as mature students and as adults into a full-time program,” she said.
Aliya White, 13, is attending the GETT camp for a second year in a row.
This week, she is building an end table that she can take home with her at the end of the camp.
“I really enjoy doing stuff in the trades,” White said. “Welding is really fun. I really like building stuff.”
She even enjoys tedious tasks like chiselling the excess glue off the table top she assembled.
“It is just satisfying,” she said.
For other campers like Abigail Smith, this is their first introduction to skilled trades.
Smith, 13, used a saw for the first time and built a circuit board all in the same week.
“I did not know anything about that at first,” she said. “Through the camp I learned how to do that.”
Whether these girls enter a career in the trades or take up one of the skills as a hobby, Smith said they will be leaving camp with lifelong lessons.
“These skills never go away. They are always going to be useful,” she said.
Each GETT camp adjusts its activities to reflect the trades programs offered locally at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
