Written By: Bob McIntyre
Collège Boréal’s Timmins campus is breaking down barriers between girls and skilled trades.
On Wednesday, 75 Grade 9 and 10 students from francophone high schools in the region are participating in a women-in-trades exercise at the college.
Boréal’s manager of school partnerships, Jessica Lachance, says they’ll participate in electrical, environmental, architecture, heavy-duty mechanic and welding work… leaving a lot less timid than they when they come in.
“And at the end of the two-hour activity, those girls leave empowered,” Lachance says, “because they just welded two pieces of metal together and they were able to flick that light switch and it lit up. We’re really encouraged that we’re able to offer that type of activity to those students.
“We’re hoping that this type of exposure will help us with this shortage of qualified tradespeople.”
