Attitudes toward women working in mining have come a long way in the last several decades, but workplace policies haven’t always been as quick to catch up.
That’s why the Sudbury Women’s Centre is offering no-cost training to companies across Northern Ontario in typically male-dominated industries — like mining, manufacturing, and construction — that are interested in creating more inclusive and supportive workplaces.
Developed in collaboration with FCR Paradigm, a Sudbury-based human resources firm, ‘Breaking Down Barriers: Advancing Workplace Equity and Inclusion’ includes five modules delivered in person or online, on topics that commonly impact women in the workplace.
The initiative is being funded by the federal government’s Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) program, enabling it to be offered free of charge to participating businesses.
A primary goal, said Sam Thompson, a client support worker with the Sudbury Women’s Centre, is to eliminate barriers that women still face on the job.
Workplace policies, created back when women were still a rarity in industrial settings, persist, she noted. But times have changed and those policies need to be updated to reflect that.
“It’s a struggle for them to feel welcome,” said Thompson, noting the centre conducted interviews with women in industry to pinpoint areas of focus.
“It's almost like they’re conforming to fit into the standard, the policies that were created, and how these workplaces are being managed, the same way that they were when it was barely any women entering the trades.”
To date, they’ve developed five modules, each based around a different theme: intimate partner violence, wellness empowerment, amplifying women's voices within male-populated industries, general mental health and wellness, and inclusive organizational practices.
Along with the training, each session includes a list of resources available in their city where businesses and employees can turn for post-training support, as well as literature that can be displayed in the workplace.
That way, what participants have learned “stays in the workplace,” and will remain with them long after the training is over, Thompson said.
In the module on intimate partner violence (IPV), for example, participants will learn about how to spot the signs that someone may be experiencing violence at the hands of their partner, how employers or staff members can assist employees experiencing IPV, how to develop workplace safety plans, and how an employer can make accommodations if they know someone at work is experiencing IPV.
Resources for that module might include a phone number for a crisis line or the address of a women’s shelter.
“So it’s almost like taking these certain things that can happen within workplaces and really shedding light on the resources and the support that there is,” Thompson said.
Participants can get the training in one of three ways: one-day, in-person training for human resources and management, plus online access for employees; one-day, in-person training for management and one-day, in-person training for staff; and self-guided, online training for human resources, management and employees.
The training is open to businesses beyond Sudbury. The women’s centre has a mandate under this initiative to serve five major areas in the North: Sudbury–Manitoulin, North Bay, Timmins, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie.
Sessions are already booked for this summer and fall, with the first taking place Aug. 20 in Timmins.
Current funding will enable the program to continue until 2027, but if it's successful, Thompson is hopeful of securing additional funding so it can continue.
Work is already underway to develop three more modules within the next year, and there’s a need, she said, for similar training in fields that haven’t always been thought of as male-dominated, such as emergency services and technology.
While this type of diversity training will likely appeal to forward-thinking companies eager to attract women to the field, Thompson is aware that not every company might be as progressive in its approach.
To them she says this: "You can't control anymore the amount of women that are entering the field, but you can control how you support them.”
As workplace gender norms continue to fall away, mining and other industries will see more women step into related roles, Thompson said.
And with ongoing labour shortages continuing across sectors, she added, women are an important resource that companies would do well to embrace.
"You still have to make those hires," Thompson said, "and why isolate those people out when it's easier to support them?”
For more information, contact Sam Thompson at 705-673-1916, ext.109, or samantha@sudburywc.ca.
