Status of Women committee  Child care is a huge barrier for women entering non-traditional occupations. If we don't change our environment for women and start introducing and allowing them the opportunities without putting up huge barriers—and it's a huge barrier when they have to chose between quality child care and a job, or multiple jobs that would pay minimum wage—then everybody loses in that situation.

Status of Women committee  The information that would actually get you into a skilled trade is usually not being provided in high schools. We have the Ontario youth apprenticeship program in co-ops, but it's very specific. It's a huge industry in itself, so the counsellors do not necessarily have all of the information readily available.

Status of Women committee  The first thing I want to clarify is that the 309A licence I hold is a construction licence. I did get it in construction. There were many barriers. One of the most common barriers is there are no washroom facilities. For some reason, you can't have a job because there isn't a washroom.

Status of Women committee  Initially this program was brought on in the 1990s. A study was done to address the barriers for women. As we know, in Ontario we lost equity, but we still said that's important. As the labour movement, that's still very important to the Canadian Auto Workers, who have women....

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chairman, and good afternoon, members of the committee and fellow witnesses. Thank you for inviting the Canadian Auto Workers Union to this study on increasing the participation of women in non-traditional occupations. My name is Teresa Weymouth, and I am an electrician.