When mentor and mentee Erin Deck and Leah Ann Maybee from Kiewit met for their first one-on-one session together, they say it felt as though they had known each other for most of their lives. 

Maybee is one of many women in the construction industry who say they have benefited from the support of a female mentor. 

“These mentorship programs are so important because a lot of women shy away from construction. They don’t know that there’s support available for them, because it’s still a male-dominated industry,” said Maybee. 

In many instances, women in construction may be the only ones in their class or training school, or the only woman on a job site. As a result, “they’re very isolated,” said Karen Dearlove, executive director for the BC Centre for Women in the Trades (BCCWITT).  

Initiatives like mentorship programs have been a valuable way to help women in the industry feel supported and uplifted, according to Deck. 

“We need support from not just women, but men, and also transgender people and everyone that wants to be involved. Our progress and our performance has to speak for itself, but we need the support of everybody, not just the women to get further,” Deck said. 

Women account for only 5.7 per cent of the construction trade workforce across 26,262 construction companies in the province, according to the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA). Investments that support workforce diversification can help industry address the labour shortage facing it, says Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VCRA) president Donna Grant.

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