Alberta
Province announces $10.7 million boost for women building careers in the skilled trades
Supporting women in the skilled trades
Alberta is providing $10.7 million to Women Building Futures to support women looking to build a career in the skilled trades.
Through Budget 2023, Alberta’s government is investing in women and empowering them to build rewarding careers. Over the next three years, $10.7 million will support Women Building Futures in their work while ensuring employers have the talent they need to grow their businesses.
Women Building Futures is a non-profit organization that helps unemployed and underemployed women explore a future in the skilled trades, where they can gain paid, on-the-job experience and build a career. Through employment training, support services, readiness workshops, affordable housing and more, the organization connects women to employers while they develop job-ready skills.
“On International Women’s Day we celebrate the incredible potential of women’s economic empowerment. By supporting Women Building Futures, Alberta is helping women gain job-ready skills to build rewarding careers in the skilled trades while ensuring Alberta’s prosperity.”
“More women are joining the skilled trades each year and I’m so excited to see that. Women Building Futures does such important work to prepare and support women looking at skilled trade careers and I’m thrilled that our government is supporting their work. This is great news for women, for families, for businesses, and for Alberta as a whole.”
Increasing opportunities for skilled labour
As Alberta’s economy remains strong and continues to grow, it’s important the province’s skilled labour supply grows with it. Partnering with Women Building Futures to increase the number of women in the skilled trades offers new opportunities for well-paying, high-demand work while providing industry with access to crucial talent.
About 5,700 women apprentices were registered in Alberta last year, a 20 per cent increase from 2021. While the number of women continues to increase, there is more work to be done to alleviate the gender gap in the skilled trades.
“Stable operational funding for Women Building Futures during the next three years gives us the flexibility to keep our focus on helping unemployed and underemployed women remove barriers to successful careers in the trades. This is good for women and good for Alberta.”
“Women Building Futures provided me a stable foundation to start my journey as a heavy equipment technician. The program I had the chance to attend provided me with knowledge, confidence and tools to be successful. They have also kept in touch with me every step of the way and have had my success as their priority.”
“Being selected as an Employer of Choice is a great acknowledgement of the success of our partnership with Women Building Futures. This work has been so meaningful to all involved, not only because it’s had such a positive impact on our projects, but because we have seen first-hand the individual transformations of candidates and the ripple effect that has on economic security and well-being of these women and their communities.”
“We are proud that our Graham projects employ women in trades at a rate over twice the national average, and that women have the same opportunities as anyone to build a career in the construction industry. As a WBF Employer of Choice, our partnership with Women Building Futures has helped us to attract and retain a pipeline of excellent talent, improve collaboration and communication on our projects, and deliver better outcomes for our clients. We believe that embracing diversity and maintaining a culture that values and respects all individuals is not only the right thing to do but also the key to continued success as we continue to develop a workforce that is representative of the communities we build and serve.”
Budget 2023 secures Alberta’s future by transforming the health-care system to meet people’s needs, supporting Albertans with the high cost of living, keeping our communities safe and driving the economy with more jobs, quality education and continued diversification.
Quick facts
- Women Building Futures is a non-profit organization with 18 employment programs in six Alberta communities.
- Since 1998, more than 2,700 women have graduated from Women Building Futures training programs.
“If Ottawa had it’s way Albertans would be left to freeze in the dark”
The ineffective federal net-zero electricity regulations will not reduce emissions or benefit Albertans but will increase costs and lead to supply shortages.
The risk of power outages during a hot summer or the depths of harsh winter cold snaps, are not unrealistic outcomes if these regulations are implemented. According to the Alberta Electric System Operator’s analysis, the regulations in question would make Alberta’s electricity system more than 100 times less reliable than the province’s supply adequacy standard. Albertans expect their electricity to remain affordable and reliable, but implementation of these regulations could increase costs by a staggering 35 per cent.
Canada’s constitution is clear. Provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over the development, conservation and management of sites and facilities in the province for the generation and production of electrical energy. That is why Alberta’s government is referring the constitutionality of the federal government’s recent net-zero electricity regulations to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.
“The federal government refused to work collaboratively or listen to Canadians while developing these regulations. The results are ineffective, unachievable and irresponsible, and place Albertans’ livelihoods – and more importantly, lives – at significant risk. Our government will not accept unconstitutional net-zero regulations that leave Albertans vulnerable to blackouts in the middle of summer and winter when they need electricity the most.”
“The introduction of the Clean Electricity Regulations in Alberta by the federal government is another example of dangerous federal overreach. These regulations will create unpredictable power outages in the months when Albertans need reliable energy the most. They will also cause power prices to soar in Alberta, which will hit our vulnerable the hardest.”
Finalized in December 2024, the federal electricity regulations impose strict carbon limits on fossil fuel power, in an attempt to force a net-zero grid, an unachievable target given current technology and infrastructure. The reliance on unproven technologies makes it almost impossible to operate natural gas plants without costly upgrades, threatening investment, grid reliability, and Alberta’s energy security.
“Ottawa’s electricity regulations will leave Albertans in the dark. They aren’t about reducing emissions – they are unconstitutional, ideological activist policies based on standards that can’t be met and technology that doesn’t exist. It will drive away investment and punish businesses, provinces and families for using natural gas for reliable, dispatchable power. We will not put families at risk from safety and affordability impacts – rationing power during the coldest days of the year – and we will continue to stand up for Albertans.”
“Albertans depend on electricity to provide for their families, power their businesses and pursue their dreams. The federal government’s Clean Electricity Regulations threaten both the affordability and reliability of our power grid, and we will not stand by as these regulations put the well-being of Albertans at risk.”
Related information
- Conference Board of Canada socio-economic Impacts of Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan – (April 2025)
- Alberta Electric System Operator’s position on Canadian Energy Regulations
Oh, Canada
We find it endlessly fascinating that most Canadians believe they live in a representative democracy, where aspiring candidates engage in authentic politicking to earn their place in office. So accustomed are Canada’s power brokers to getting their way, they rarely bother to cover their tracks. A careful reading of the notoriously pliant Canadian press makes anticipating future events in the country surprisingly straightforward.
Back in December, when Pierre Poilievre was given better than 90% odds of replacing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—and Mark Carney was still just an uncharismatic banker few had heard of—we engaged in some not-so-speculative dot-connecting and correctly predicted Carney’s rise to the top spot. Our interest was driven by the notoriously rocky relationship between Ottawa and the Province of Alberta, home to one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves, and how Carney’s rise might be a catalyst for resetting Canada’s energy trajectory. In a follow-up article titled “The Fix Is In,” we laid out a few more predictions:
“Here’s how the play is likely to unfold in the weeks and months ahead: Carney will be elected Prime Minister on April 28 by a comfortable margin; [Alberta Premier Danielle] Smith will trigger a constitutional crisis, providing cover for Carney to strike a grand bargain that finally resolves longstanding tensions between the provinces and Ottawa; and large infrastructure permitting reform will fall into place. Protests against these developments will be surprisingly muted, and those who do take to the streets will be largely ignored by the media. The entire effort will be wrapped in a thicket of patriotism, with Trump portrayed as a threat even greater than climate change itself. References to carbon emissions will slowly fade…
In parallel, we expect Trump and Carney to swiftly strike a favorable deal on tariffs, padding the latter’s bona fides just as his political capital will be most needed.”
The votes have barely been counted, yet the next moves are already unfolding…
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’ll make it easier for citizens to initiate a referendum on the province’s future in Canada, after warning that a Liberal win in Monday’s election could spur a groundswell of support for Alberta separatism. Smith said on Tuesday that a newly tabled elections bill will give everyday Albertans a bigger say in the province’s affairs.
‘(We’re giving) Albertans more ways to be directly involved in democracy, and to have their say on issues that matter to them,’ Smith told reporters in Edmonton.
If passed, the new law would dramatically lower the number of signatures needed to put a citizen-proposed constitutional referendum question on the ballot, setting a new threshold of 10 per cent of general election turnout — or just over 175,000, based on Alberta’s last provincial election in 2023.”
“US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is looking to make a trade deal and will visit the White House within the next week. Trump said he congratulated Carney on his election victory when the Canadian leader called on Tuesday.
‘He called me up yesterday – he said let’s make a deal,’ Trump told reporters at the White House after a televised Cabinet meeting.”
Remember where you read it first.
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