BCCWITT News and Events – July Newsletter

On behalf of BC Centre for Women in the Trades –

We turned SIX!!!

On July 1st, we at the BC Centre for Women in the Trades celebrated our sixth anniversary as an organization. We are so proud of all we’ve accomplished throughout these past 6 years, and deeply appreciate your support: We couldn’t have done any of it without our funders, advocates, and community members! To share our appreciation, we held a contest on our social media and gave away a prize package that included a paddle board, gifts cards to Home Depot & Marks, plus BCCWITT swag: Thank you to all who entered, and congrats to our winner, electrician Lauren R.! Follow us at @bccwitt on social media for future giveaways, as well as news and opportunities for building a more equitable skilled trades sector.

Stand Up for Safe Workplaces to Launch in Spring 2025

We are excited to announce Stand Up for Safe Workplaces, a new approach to workplace culture and safety training. Developed in partnership with the BC Federation of Labour (BCFED) Health & Safety Centre, Stand Up for Safe Workplaces is an innovative new program that will help participants understand diversity, equity and inclusion through the lens of workplace safety, including psychological injury prevention. The program’s development is being funded with $2,801,586 from the BC government’s Workplace Innovation Fund, part of the Stronger BC: Future Ready Action Plan announced last year. We expect to complete curriculum development and launch the training program in spring 2025. Read the full press release here.

BCCWITT Info Session: August 15 @ 6 pm

Coming up on the evening of Thursday, August 15th from 6-7pm: Meet BCCWITT staff, hear about our programs, and learn about what we’re doing to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive skilled trades industry, at our next info session! Employers, labour organizers, tradespeople, trades training staff, and anyone interested in our work are welcome to join us for this free & fun virtual event. Register here. Can’t make that one? No problem! We will also be hosting one on Thursday, September 19th from noon-1pm: Register here.

Funding Opportunities:

BCCWITT Project Grant and BCCWITT Career Advancement Bursary

Please check out our TWO funding initiatives:

  • The BCCWITT Project Grant provides up to $5000 in seed funding for Leaders in Trades program participants to organize, coordinate, and host initiatives that promote skilled tradescareers to youth and equity priority people of all genders and recruit them across British Columbia. If you are not a LIT participant but want to connect with one to access this funding, please email us at info@bccwitt.ca.
  • Applications for our BCCWITT Career Advancement Bursary for this quarter are open until August 15: This initiative offers equity-priority tradespeople of all genders with up to $1000 once per fiscal year (April 2024 – March 2025) to fund any part of the expenses related to accessing training, certifications, networking, and educational opportunities, including tools, travel costs, child care, and more.

Details are on the program page of our website: https://bccwitt.ca/bccwitt-bursary-project-grant/

Advocacy and Networking Opportunities

July 24: WorkSafeBC Public Hearing on OHS Regulation Part 20, Washroom Facilities at Construction Sites

Coming up on July 24th: Another opportunity to share your thoughts about healthy and safe washrooms on construction sites! WorkSafeBC is holding a virtual public hearing on proposed amendments to the OHS Regulation on July 24 from 10 am to 2 pm. To register to speak, provide written feedback, or view the livestream, please go to:https://www.worksafebc.com/en/law-policy/public-hearings-consultations/current-public-hearings-and-consultations/july-2024-public-hearing-proposed-changes-to-ohsr

July 30 & 31: $10 a Day Focus Groups on Flexible Child Care

$10aDay is recruiting parents and guardians to participate in paid focus group to discuss flexible child care issues. Flexible child care includes non-standard hours and a variety of enrollment options. They are looking to learn more from families about their child care needs as the $10aDay system expands in BC. If you’re interested in participating, complete this form: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=dCndRAtYUEeHdDyhlc1CMRJ1pQJtDjRFm3wHvy-NwMlUMkhHRkRaTVZEMVIzSTNNSVhaMDlVMTZURS4u

Registration Now Open: Tradeswomen Build Nations 2024, Sept. 27-29 in New Orleans

NABTU’s annual Tradeswomen Build Nations (TWBN) conference is happening September 27th to 29th in New Orleans, LA, and registration is now open! This conference is the largest gathering of tradeswomen in the world, and not only does it offer women in the trades the skills, resources and supports to thrive in their construction industry careers through to retirement, it is also a unique and inspiring opportunity for tradespeople and sector leaders of all genders to engage meaningfully with equity and inclusion. BCCWITT staff and volunteers will be attending, and we are looking forward to connecting with many of you there!

Trades Talent: Share Your Expertise

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF-FCA) has unveiled Trades Talent: An innovative online service designed to connect event planners with expert speakers in the skilled trades sector! We are proud that several of the available speakers are participants in BCCWITT’s Leaders in Trades program. If you have lived experience and expertise in the skilled trades that you’d like to share with a wider audience, you’re invited to learn more and apply to join the directory here: https://tradestalent.caf-fca.org/