®
introduce
special measures and the establishment of internal goals which work towards
increased participation of women by increasing the recruitment, hiring,
training and promotion of women;
®
make
reasonable accommodation to enable women to compete with other workers on an
equal basis, and
®
monitor
the retention and promotion of women who are trained and/or working in
occupational areas where they are under-represented in the workforce.
This requires employers to review their employment
systems, policies and practices with respect to:
®
the
recruitment, selection and hiring of employees;
®
the
development and training of employees;
®
the
promotion of employees;
®
the
retention and termination of employees, and
®
the
reasonable accommodation of the special needs of members of designated groups.
Despite employment equity legislation, the Federal
Contractor's Program and other long-term government policies such as HRDCís
Designated Groups Policy, barriers to occupational integration still exist and
women's work remains segregated. These
barriers include inappropriate training, discrimination in hiring,
inappropriate work practices and environments, sexual harassment and/or the
perception of a culture of harassment, and family responsibility problems.
These factors may be countered, or reinforced, by the attitudes, approaches and
actions of employers, educators, managers, supervisors, labour representatives,
co-workers, family and friends.
This report will provide quantitative and
qualitative data that can be used as a basis of analysis for the relative
success of employment equity initiatives.Obviously there are a number of factors
that would need to be explored to
fully account for the segregated nature of womenís employment.However, it is
of critical importance that
trends in womenís participation in the workforce be documented as a first step
in achieving greater gender equality.This report will be useful to:
®
federal
and provincial governments interested in implementing gender-based analysis and
integrated equity policies in their departments and agencies;
®
LEEP
and FCP employers, and other employers interested in recruiting women into
their technical workforce;
®
community
colleges and universities who wish to increase the number of women into their
technical courses and engineering programs, and
®
local
WITT groups and other organizations advocating for the occupational integration
of women by providing them with a tool that can be used to inform women of the
importance of working together.
Methodology
Employment Data
Data collection involved analysis of the 1995 and
1996 annual reports submitted to Treasury Board, Ottawa.Ý Research was confined to data on full-time
permanent employees in the following employment equity occupational groups:
middle management, professional, semi-professional, foremen/women, skilled crafts
and semi-skilled manual occupational categories. (See Appendix A for a list of
the Standard Occupational Classification Unit Groups covered under the
employment equity occupational groups noted above).
Additional data specific to women's employment in
technical occupations were gathered through the use of questionnaires sent to
employers under the Federal Contractors Program and the Employment Equity Act,
as well as employers who access large amounts of public funds for
infrastructure or mega-projects. (See
Appendix B for data collection forms).These data collection forms were developed
in consultation with the
researchers and members of the WITT locals throughout Atlantic Canada. Employers
who came under LEEP and FCPprograms
within the past two years were
screened out because it takes at least two years to develop and implement an
employment equity plan and realize any benefits to women.We also removed those
LEEP and FCP employers
who do not employ people in TTO and engineering occupations (i.e. the banking
industry),
Data had been previously collected on the Hibernia
construction project as a result of recent research completed by WITT
Newfoundland and Labrador.[4] Assistance with current data collection was
provided by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Data were collected on
the Confederation Bridge (PEI Strait Crossing) from Strait Crossing Inc., HRDC,
and labour unions.
At the onset of data collection, LEEP, FCP and
infrastructure employers were assured that the names of employers would not be
published in this report. With the
exception of the two mega-projects (Hibernia and the Confederation Bridge) and
Canada Post, every effort has been made to maintain employer confidentiality.
When data collection was complete, the data were
entered into a database for further analysis and reporting.
Education Data
Data were collected on male and female graduates for
a five-year period from public and private schools and universities throughout
Atlantic Canada.The areas of study
include trades (with the exception of hairdressing and cooking), two and
three-year technology courses and engineering programs. Due to inconsistencies
in the collection and
retrieval of college data by provincial governments throughout the Atlantic
provinces, five years of data was not available from some provinces. For Nova
Scotia, enrollment figures are used
since graduation data were not available from the Department of Education. In addition, the number of students enrolled
or graduated from trades programs includes both pre-apprenticeship and advanced
block programs.
Qualitative Data
Focus groups were held in two locations in each of
the four Atlantic provinces. Their
purpose was to document women's experiences seeking TTO and engineering work.
It included asking women to suggest strategies for change in the workplace,
educational institutions, and government and to gather information on the types
of initiatives which would be helpful at the community level.Ý The agenda for the focus groups was
developed in consultation with the researchers in all four provinces. (See Appendix C for workshop agenda).
Participation in the focus groups was open to the
general public. Meetings were
advertised by women's centres, community colleges and community channel TV
stations. In addition, members of WITT
National Network who reside in the Atlantic Provinces were informed of the
meetings by support staff in the WITT National Network office.
The facilitators of the focus groups took the
opportunity to inform women about the WITT National Network and encouraged them
to become actively involved in the various WITT locals throughout the Atlantic
provinces. In this regard, women were
asked to complete a questionnaire on what they needed most from WITT. The results of that questionnaire are
available from the WITT locals and are separate from this report.
Employer Response
LEEP
The 1995 and 1996 employer reports submitted to
Treasury Board were analyzed. Data were
collected from 37 reports for 1995 and 35 reports for 1996. Then requests were made of LEEP employers ín
human resource departments by project researchers. Data were collected only from employers who hire people in technical
occupations, report from the Atlantic provinces, and have been required by
legislation to implement employment equity for two years prior to this
survey. Twenty-five employers were
contacted throughout the Atlantic provinces and ten (40%) responded.
FCP
In Newfoundland and Labrador information was
requested from 14 employers. Eight
employers responded with the requested data, four of whom were unionized. Requests were made of 23 employers in Nova
Scotia. Eighteen responded positively
and eight of those were unionized. In
New Brunswick 22 employers were contacted and responses were received from 14,
five of whom were unionized. PEI does
not have any FCP employers. The overall response rate of FCP employers was 68%.
Infrastructure
Most of the contractors who successfully bid on
infrastructure projects responded to our questions over the phone rather than
in writing. Although many of the
contractors provided information with regard to female employees, they were not
able to provide data on the number of males.
This was due to the temporary nature of construction work.
Legislated Employment Equity Program (LEEP)
The Employment Equity Act applies to employers under
federal jurisdiction and Crown corporations with 100 or more employees. Generally speaking, those employers operate
primarily in the banking, transportation and communications industries. Section 4 of the Employment Equity Act sets
out certain obligations for employers:
An employers shall, in consultation with such
persons as have been designated by the employees to act as their representative
or, where a bargaining agent represents the employees, in consultation with the
bargaining agent, implement employment equity by:
(a) identifying and eliminating each of the
employer's employment practices, not otherwise authorized by law, that results
in employment barriers against persons in designated groups; and
(b) instituting such positive policies and
practices and making such reasonable accommodation as will ensure that persons
in designated groups achieve a degree of representation in the various
positions of employment with the employer that is at least proportionate to their
representation:
(i) in the work force; or
(ii) in those segments of the work force that
are identifiable by qualifications, eligibility or geography and from which the
employer may reasonably be expected to draw or promote employees.[5]
The Employment Equity Act also states that federally
regulated employers are required to prepare an annual employment equity plan
with goals and timetables, and to retain each plan and all records used to
prepare their annual report at their principal place of business in
Canada. The annual report must indicate
the industrial sector, geographic location and employment status on the
representation of designated group members by occupational group and salary
range and to provide information on those hired, promoted and terminated. These reports are publicly available and are
provided to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which has the authority to
initiate an investigation if it has reasonable grounds to believe that systemic
discrimination is indicated by the data in the reports.[6]
LEEP Data from Treasury
Board
In the LEEP annual reports, the occupational
categories where the majority of technical occupations are found include middle
managers, professionals, semi-professionals, foremen/women, skilled crafts and
trades and semi-skilled manual workers. Tables #1 and #2 indicate the number
and percentage of women and men in permanent full-time employment with LEEP
employers in the Atlantic provinces during 1995 and 1996.
|
|
NB |
NF |
NS |
PEI |
|
|||||||
|
OCCUPATIONAL GROUP |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
Total
F |
Total
All |
%Femaleof
Total |
|
|
Middle Managers |
138 |
309 |
217 |
335 |
348 |
685 |
26 |
28 |
729 |
2086 |
35% |
|
|
Professionals |
38 |
105 |
36 |
123 |
76 |
218 |
8 |
13 |
158 |
617 |
26% |
|
|
Semi-Professionals |
46 |
214 |
32 |
210 |
110 |
652 |
6 |
25 |
194 |
1295 |
15% |
|
|
Foremen/Women |
16 |
224 |
0 |
41 |
8 |
374 |
3 |
20 |
27 |
686 |
4% |
|
|
Skilled Trades |
4 |
905 |
10 |
1320 |
32 |
1933 |
1 |
270 |
45 |
3937 |
1% |
|
|
Semi-Skilled Manual Labour |
7 |
737 |
1 |
345 |
41 |
1569 |
37 |
224 |
86 |
2961 |
3% |
|
|
Total |
249 |
2494 |
296 |
2374 |
615 |
5431 |
81 |
580 |
1241 |
12120 |
10% |
|
|
Percentage of Females |
9% |
11% |
10% |
12% |
Ý10% |
|
||||||
Table # 1 : 1995 LEEP Data from Treasury Board Annual Reports
|
|
NB |
NF |
NS |
PEI |
|
||||||
|
OCCUPATIONAL GROUP |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
Total
F |
Total
All |
%Femaleof
Total |
|
Middle Managers |
183 |
340 |
214 |
301 |
313 |
588 |
29 |
37 |
739 |
2005 |
37% |
|
Professionals |
113 |
346 |
45 |
108 |
94 |
198 |
0 |
1 |
252 |
905 |
28% |
|
Semi-Professionals |
82 |
341 |
26 |
192 |
99 |
536 |
1 |
5 |
208 |
1282 |
16% |
|
Foremen/Women |
19 |
238 |
0 |
16 |
6 |
263 |
0 |
21 |
25 |
563 |
4% |
|
Skilled Trades |
18 |
1197 |
12 |
716 |
24 |
1637 |
2 |
278 |
56 |
3884 |
1% |
|
Semi-Skilled Manual Labour |
22 |
821 |
1 |
272 |
41 |
1793 |
53 |
278 |
117 |
3281 |
4% |
|
Total |
437 |
2462 |
298 |
1605 |
577 |
5015 |
85 |
620 |
1397 |
11099 |
13% |
|
Percentage of Females |
15% |
16% |
10% |
12% |
Ý13% |
|
|||||
Table #2 : 1996 LEEP Data from Treasury Board Annual Reports
The above figures show an increase from 1995 to 1996
in womenís representation in middle management, professional, semi-professional
and semi-skilled manual work. There is
a marginal increase in the number of women in the skilled trades group. Womenís
employment increased overall by 3% in 1996 over 1995 figures. This was mainly due to a significant
increase in the employment of women in New Brunswick in virtually every
occupational group. The representation
of women decreased in Nova Scotia while PEI and Newfoundland experienced very
small increases.Ý With the exception of
PEI, the numbers of men decreased in 1996.
It should be noted that when Canada Post is removed
from the data, the percentage of women in middle management decreases from 35%
to 27% in 1995 and from 37% to 28% in 1996 and the overall percentage of women
decreases from 10% to 7% in 1995 and from 13% to 10% in 1996.
In their annual reports, many LEEP employers took
the opportunity to describe their efforts to increase opportunities for
designated group members. The following
indicates some of their approaches:
We focused on recruiting and a referral
program since it would impact our workforce immediately. Human Resource recruiters focused their
attention on advertising in non-traditional areas as well as building relationships
with designated group agencies. ...
Forging positive contacts with community organizations have had a direct result
in placing designated group members in various areas of [our company].
Another LEEP employer wrote about the impact of the
poor economy on their ability to hire at all.
As the following report illustrates, they have implemented some
initiatives that have been directed at women.
However, they have not resulted in increased employment of women with
the company.
We continue to provide financial assistance
to employees interested in furthering their education. Approximately 20% of the women working for
[the company] applied for and received funding from [the company] to pursue
their educational goals. One female was
successful in obtaining her BA which was partially funded by [the company] on a
year-to-year basis; she was recently promoted to a position with Human
Resources. [They] also have a continuing education program for its five
Occupational Health nurses - all of whom are women. Furthermore, we provide educational bursaries to 21 women of
high-school age to pursue a university education. We also sponsor a Junior Achievement Company (JA) which is made
up of approximately 50% females.
Women in Other Designated
Groups
Further analysis of the 1995 and 1996 LEEP reports
for the four Atlantic provinces indicates the number of aboriginal women, women
with disabilities and visible minority women in permanent full-time
employment. Table #3 shows their total
participation in the occupational groups used in the analysis above (middle
managers, professionals, semi-professionals, forewomen, skilled crafts workers,
and semi-skilled manual workers). The
number of aboriginal women, women with disabilities and visible minority women
in technical occupations increased in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia but the
overall numbers remain low.
|
|
NB |
NF |
NS |
PEI |
||||
|
Designated Group |
1995 |
1996 |
1995 |
1996 |
1995 |
1996 |
1995 |
1996 |
|
Aboriginal Women |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
Women With Disabilities |
7 |
9 |
9 |
4 |
5 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
|
Visible Minority Women |
8 |
13 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
Table #3 : 1995 and 1996 LEEP Data for Other Designated Groups
Source:
Treasury Board Annual Reports 1995 and 1996
Women in Atlantic Canada vs.
Women Nationally
When
women's employment with LEEP employers in Atlantic Canada is compared to women
with LEEP employers nation wide, the figures show that the degree of
under-representation is greater in Atlantic Canada. Compared to the rest of Canada, there are 10% less women in
middle management positions, 14% less women in professional occupations, and 5%
less women in semi-professional occupations.
In Atlantic Canada there are 1.5% less women in forewomen positions, 2%
less in skilled trades and 1.5% less in semi-skilled manual labour
positions. The latter are occupations
where women are under-represented nationwide.
Figure #1 further illustrates this point.
Figure #1:Ý Women in Atlantic Canada vs. Women
Nationally
LEEP Data Collected Through
Questionnaires
This research attempted to focus more specifically
on the number of women employed in technical occupations by LEEP
employers. As a result, the following
data were collected from ten LEEP employers in the Atlantic provinces. The job categories included technical supervisors,
engineers, technologists, skilled trades people and operators (i.e. heavy
equipment, truck drivers). These
categories encompass the majority of occupations which would generally be
classified as TTO and engineering occupations.
|
Job Categories |
NB |
NF |
NS |
Total F |
Total |
% F |
|||
|
|
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
|
|
|
|
Technical Supervisor |
1 |
25 |
2 |
8 |
3 |
144 |
6 |
183 |
3.3% |
|
Engineering |
1 |
48 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
25 |
1 |
75 |
1.3% |
|
Technology |
4 |
46 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
5 |
87 |
5.7% |
|
Trades |
3 |
335 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
368 |
4 |
709 |
0.6% |
|
Operations |
9 |
227 |
3 |
140 |
1 |
1151 |
13 |
1531 |
0.8% |
|
Total |
18 |
681 |
8 |
151 |
4 |
1724 |
28 |
2585 |
1.1% |
|
Percentage Female |
2.50% |
|
5% |
|
0.20% |
|
|
|
|
Table #4: LEEP Data Collected Through
Questionnaires: 1997
LEEP employers in New Brunswick employ the greatest
number of women in most technical jobs although the percentage of females is
greatest (5%) in Newfoundland. Even though most employment opportunities are
found in the skilled trades areas, the representation of women remains
extremely low - 1% in both the 1995 and 1996 annual reports and 0.6% in the
above data collected through questionnaires.
The overall percentage of women in TTO and engineering occupations was
1.1% for the 10 employers who responded, representing 40% of those surveyed.
Federal Contractors Program
(FCP)
The Federal Contractors Program (FCP) was designed
to ensure that organizations who do business with the Government of Canada
achieve and maintain a representative workforce. FCP is actually a government policy which did not have
legislative basis until the Employment Equity Act was revised in 1996. With the new legislation, Human Resources
Development Canada have to ensure that the FCP requirements of employers with
regard to implementation of employment equity, will be equivalent to those of
employers under the Act. FCP applies to
suppliers of goods and services to the federal government who have 100 or more
employees and successfully bid on contracts of $200,000 or more. Exemptions include companies accessing
government contracts related to the purchase or lease of real property and
construction contracts regardless of size.
All Canadian suppliers and foreign suppliers with a resident workforce
in Canada are covered by this policy.
HRDC monitors the Federal Contractors Program and
outlines the guidelines as follows:
The
terms and conditions of this commitment require contractors to satisfactorily
fulfill a number of program criteria.
These include determining and analyzing the internal workforce;
eliminating policies and practices that have an adverse impact on designated
groups; identifying areas for change; establishing goals and timetables for the
hiring and promotion of designated group members; and developing an action plan
to achieve the stated goals.
Certified
contractors will be subject to on-site compliance reviews by HRDC officials at
any point after the award of a contract.
Should a compliance review indicate a failure to respect the commitment
to implement employment equity, sanctions may be applied, which could include
the exclusion of the employer from future government business.[7]
The following data were collected in 1997 from FCP
employers who have been under the program since 1994 (Prince Edward Island has
no employers under the Federal Contractors Program). Table #5 and Figure #2 illustrate the participation rate of women
who work as technical supervisors, engineers, technologists, trades and
operations workers.Ý Women are best
represented (22%) in the technology category.
Data indicate that most of this increase is due to the efforts of one
employer in Newfoundland. Overall, women make up 10% of the TTO and engineering
workforce with FCP employers. The representation of women in TTO and
engineering occupations in unionized environments is lowest in Newfoundland
(2%), 6% in New Brunswick and 11% in Nova Scotia.
|
Job
Categories |
NB |
NF |
NS |
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
Non-union |
Union
|
Non-union |
Union
|
Non-union |
Union
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
Total |
% F |
|
Technical
Supervisor |
17 |
21 |
0 |
22 |
5 |
29 |
5 |
17 |
15 |
159 |
0 |
7 |
297 |
14 |
|
Engineering |
2 |
24 |
3 |
177 |
11 |
85 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
99 |
3 |
11 |
423 |
5 |
|
Technology |
58 |
62 |
21 |
520 |
117 |
190 |
29 |
124 |
9 |
42 |
51 |
70 |
1293 |
22 |
|
Trades |
9 |
253 |
42 |
1129 |
7 |
27 |
5 |
1152 |
1 |
95 |
21 |
1811 |
4552 |
2 |
|
Operations |
15 |
84 |
75 |
455 |
21 |
107 |
3 |
577 |
118 |
281 |
218 |
592 |
2546 |
18 |
|
Total |
101 |
444 |
141 |
2303 |
161 |
438 |
42 |
1874 |
147 |
676 |
293 |
2491 |
9111 |
10 |
|
PercentageÝ Female |
19% |
6% |
27% |
2% |
18% |
11% |
|
|
||||||
Table #5:Ý
Women vs. Men in TTO and Engineering with FCP Employers: 1997
Figure II:Ý Female vs. Male Employees, FCP Employers,
1997
Federal Infrastructure
Program
The Federal Infrastructure Program is a partnership
program between federal, provincial and municipal governments for the purpose
of upgrading/installing water and sewer systems, buildings and roads. The federal government contributes partial
funds and the province and municipality contribute the remainder.
In Newfoundland and Labrador data were requested of
32 contractors. Responses received from
28 indicate that a total of five women were employed in TTO and engineering
positions on projects valued at $5,031,629.
Two companies reported hiring a total of seven women for flagging
positions directing traffic around the construction site.
In Nova Scotia data were requested of seven
contractors and responses received from four.
On projects valued at $721,329, one woman was employed in technical
work. Two companies reported that the
only women hired were in temporary positions as flaggers.
In New Brunswick requests were made of 15 contractors
and responses received from 14. A total
of four women were employed in technical positions on projects totaling
$12,445,000. One company reported
hiring women for 'flagging' positions.
In PEI information was requested of 37 contractors
and responses received from 11. On projects valued at $11,281,000, 16 women
were employed in TTO and engineering positions. Eight companies reported hiring women for 'flagging' positions.
Mega-Projects
In the past five years, Atlantic Canadaís economy
has benefited from the construction of two mega-projects: the Hibernia
construction project at Mosquito Cove, Newfoundland and the Confederation
Bridge (PEI Strait Crossing). Both
projects had skill shortage training programs which were funded almost entirely
by HRDC.
The Hibernia Construction Project
This section provides an
overview of the Hibernia construction project as outlined in the 1996 WITT
Newfoundland and Labrador report entitled "Women, Employment Equity and
the
Hibernia Construction Project."[8]
The development of the
Hibernia offshore oilfield was one of the largest construction projects in
Canadian history. It has required
expenditures of over $5 billion and is of great significance to the economy of
Canada and, in particular, Newfoundland.
Work developing the Mosquito Cove construction site, 140 km west of St.
John's, started in late 1990. This is
the location of the construction of the massive concrete base of the production
platform, one topsides module and various topsides assemblies. It is also the site of the assembly of the
topsides and its mating with the base.
It was originally planned
that the site would have a peak labour force of 3,600 workers; subsequent
design and scheduling changes have meant that this has increased and by 1995,
the anticipated total on-site employment was about 5000 workers. Other project work in Newfoundland has been
focused in St. John's, with fabrication, engineering and administrative
activity, while fabrication and engineering work has also taken place at
Marystown on the Burin Peninsula, which has a major offshore fabrication
yard. Smaller contracts (for instance,
for the supply of aggregates and the workcamp accommodation units) have been
awarded to companies operating in various other Newfoundland communities.
This project work was an
attempt to ensure that Hibernia met Newfoundland and Canadian benefits
commitments spelled out in the project development agreement. These required that Canada receive 55 to 60%
of the estimated $5.2 billion pre-production expenditures, 65% of the $10.0
billion operating expenditures, 13,000 (70% of the total) person-years of
construction employment, and 20,000 person-years of production employment.Ý Much of this work has occurred in
Newfoundland, which was guaranteed employment on the base, topside module,
topside assemblies and other construction activity to a total of 10,000
person-years, as well as much of the production employment.
These commitments by the
Hibernia consortium (incorporated in 1990 as the Hibernia Management and
Development Company (HMDC)) were made in exchange for major financial support
by the federal government. It committed
to pay 25% of the construction costs to a total of $1.04 billion and provide
loan guarantees for 40% of these costs to a maximum of $1.66 billion. The main motivation of the government in
agreeing to these terms was spelled out by the senior federal representative at
the 1990 signing ceremony: 'the significant financial commitment by the federal
government to make Hibernia happen is a clear demonstration of our
determination to overcome regional disparities in Atlantic Canada.' [9]
He continued to say that Hibernia is a major regional development and
employment project, and an important step in developing an offshore oil
industry, rather than the major generator of resource revenues once
anticipated.
At the start-up of the
Hibernia construction project, $18 million was allocated for unionized
skill-shortage training by HRDC. The
provincial government provided additional funds. As of May, 1995, most of the training had been completed and the
following data outline the participation rates of women and men.
As
of May, 1995, HRDC funded 3,127 seats for Hibernia-related training;
- 2,361
men, representing 96% of
training participants, accessed 2,960 seats in programs;
- 102 women, representing 4% of
participants, accessed 167 seats; and
-1909
trainees had subsequently
gained employment at the site; 1,844 (97%) were men and 65 (3%) were women.[10]
At its peak, about 200 women
worked on the Hibernia Construction site, mainly in clerk and camp attendant
positions. Forty women worked in
trades, technology and engineering positions.
As of May, 1996, women represented 4% of the total workforce.
Statistics from the Government of Newfoundland and
Labrador outline womenís representation in technical jobs in the current
production phase of the Hibernia project:
- 18
women (4%) and 350 men working offshore, and
- 64
women (12%) and 238 men onshore.
Some of the positions held by women include fluids
lab technician, logging engineer, well completions engineering team leader,
technical document specialist and process, pipeline, QA, planning engineer.
ÝConfederation
Bridge (PEI Strait Crossing)
Construction on the Confederation Bridge began in
1993. Described by project officials as
the 'largest public/private partnering in Canada,' it was entirely designed,
financed and built by the private sector - Strait Crossing Inc. (SCI). It is to be maintained and operated by SCI
for 35 years according to the development agreement with Public Works Canada.
Although SCI will not release the total cost of
constructing the bridge, it is valued at $840 million.Ý SCI is guaranteed $41.9 million (1992
dollars indexed at inflation over 35 years) for 35 years from the Federal
government. The federal government also
contributed $5 million each to PEI and New Brunswick to take care of stress on
the highways due to the construction of the bridge. HRDC provided funds for training some of the workers on the
project and continues to provide training for displaced ferry workers. ACOA has made funds available to employers
and new businesses to open in the Borden-Carlton area of PEI. This community consists mainly of displaced
workers from Marine Atlantic.
Workers were referred to work on the project by the
respective construction trade union.
The total workforce was 2500, 250 of whom were women working in a
variety of occupational areas although the majority worked in flagging and
maintenance (cleaning/janitorial) positions.
Training was provided in skill shortage and project
specific areas. Candidates for training
were selected by the five construction trade unions. During 1994-96, the total training expenditure by HRDC was $1,
356,751. These costs breakdown into two
categories: course costs ($857,081) and income support ($499,670). There were 784 men and 38 women (4.6%) who
received training for the project.
Women were trained in
post-tensioning and rebar work, and 36 of them completed the training.Ý Of the women trained, one was native and one
was disabled.
The majority of women who were trained to work on
the Strait Crossing in rebar and post tension work were hired in construction
maintenance positions instead. Most of
them worked as flaggers and maintenance workers on the support ferries. Four women worked as security guards, 2 as
bus drivers, 1 in post tensioning, 2 in rebar, and 1 in concrete work. One woman civil engineer worked on the
project.
Education
Our purpose in collecting data from colleges and universities
was to document the number of women in TTO and engineering programs and to look
for patterns or trends in their participation over time. As is noted in the methodology section, a
variety of approaches were utilized by the four provinces to collect and
retrieve statistical data on the numbers of students in their college
systems. As a result, some
inconsistencies arose from province to province in the number of years in which
data were available.
Womenís Participation in
Trades and Technology Programs
PEI
The following table illustrates the number of women
and men graduates in trades and technology courses in the public college system
in PEI. The number of women in
technology programs has decreased while the number of men has increased. In 1993, women were 22% of technology
graduates and in 1997 they were 14%.
There has been no substantial increase in the number of women in trades
programs; over the past five years the number has remained consistently very
low. In 1993, women were 1.8% of the
graduates from trades programs and in 1997, they were 4%.
|
PEI Graduates |
1997 |
1996 |
1995 |
1994 |
1993 |
|
Technology: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
ÝÝ Females |
55 |
44 |
62 |
70 |
73 |
|
ÝÝ Males |
325 |
234 |
266 |
234 |
254 |
|
ÝÝ % Female |
14.5% |
15.8% |
18.9% |
23% |
22.3% |
|
Trades*: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
ÝÝ Females |
13 |
11 |
7 |
10 |
11 |
|
ÝÝ Males |
307 |
284 |
383 |
462 |
583 |
|
ÝÝ % Female |
4% |
3.7% |
1.8% |
2.1% |