I may not have the statistics for all of the school board's 21 programs. I have more experience with the Centre de formation Le Chantier. These are specifically construction programs, five of which are with Mr. Smillie. They are pretty similar, including brickwork, masonry, electricity, carpentry, woodworking, etc.
Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of women taking these programs. As you emphasized earlier, it is not just the commitment that counts but also the establishment of support structures for these students. It is not always easy for women to enter the construction industry. We heard someone talk about this today.
Congratulations, Madam, for your efforts; you know that it is not always easy.
Our girls experience this on a daily basis when they register in programs. So we need to believe in them and give them the resources, allocate the resources they need to assist them in that career path.
As soon as I took this position three years ago, we immediately hired a full-time career counsellor in order to get women placed in those occupations.
Heaven knows, the construction industry needs women to set its practices straight and to clean them up. You are aware of what has been happening in the Quebec construction industry for the past few weeks. I will not go into details, because it is not what we are talking about today. I think that women have a place in this industry that is not only expected but also deserved. So we have to believe in them and put the appropriate structures in place.
With regard to numbers, the best incentive— depending on the number of applications—is to constantly adapt to what women ask for. When I have a lot of them over a given year, in traditionally male-dominated programs, we get positive discrimination. We automatically reserve up to two spots for women in programs where there are 20 to 22 spots. So, if I have enough applications to justify it, I make room for two women right away, no matter what the results of the selection test are.