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.
From the Canadian Energy Centre
By Will Gibson
Alberta oil sands projects poised to grow on lower costs, strong reserves
As geopolitical uncertainty ripples through global energy markets, a new report says Alberta’s oil sands sector is positioned to grow thanks to its lower costs.
Enverus Intelligence Research’s annual Oil Sands Play Fundamentals forecasts producers will boost output by 400,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) by the end of this decade through expansions of current operations.
“Existing oil sands projects deliver some of the lowest-breakeven oil in North America at WTI prices lower than $50 U.S. dollars,” said Trevor Rix, a director with the Calgary-based research firm, a subsidiary of Enverus which is headquartered in Texas with operations in Europe and Asia.
Alberta’s oil sands currently produce about 3.4 million bbls/d. Individual companies have disclosed combined proven reserves of about 30 billion barrels, or more than 20 years of current production.
A recent sector-wide reserves analysis by McDaniel & Associates found the oil sands holds about 167 billion barrels of reserves, compared to about 20 billion barrels in Texas.
While trade tensions and sustained oil price declines may marginally slow oil sands growth in the short term, most projects have already had significant capital invested and can withstand some volatility.
Cenovus Energy’s Christina Lake oil sands project. Photo courtesy Cenovus Energy
“While it takes a large amount of out-of-pocket capital to start an oil sands operation, they are very cost effective after that initial investment,” said veteran S&P Global analyst Kevin Birn.
“Optimization,” where companies tweak existing operations for more efficient output, has dominated oil sands growth for the past eight years, he said. These efforts have also resulted in lower cost structures.
“That’s largely shielded the oil sands from some of the inflationary costs we’ve seen in other upstream production,” Birn said.
Added pipeline capacity through expansion of the Trans Mountain system and Enbridge’s Mainline have added an incentive to expand production, Rix said.
The increased production will also spur growth in regions of western Canada, including the Montney and Duvernay, which Enverus analysts previously highlighted as increasingly crucial to meet rising worldwide energy demand.
“Increased oil sands production will see demand increase for condensate, which is used as diluent to ship bitumen by pipeline, which has positive implications for growth in drilling in liquids-rich regions such as the Montney and Duvernay,” Rix said.
“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
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