The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), recently became an Advocate for The Leadership Accord on Gender Diversity in the Canadian electricity industry, an initiative of Electricity Human Resources Canada.
A number of women in the renewable energy industry will be discussing the Diversity Accord on October 2 at the Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE) event in Montreal (the night before CanWEA’s annual conference kicks off in the city).
According to a blog post by CanWEA’s Director of Media and Communications, Tracy Walden, the decision signals the organization’s commitment to speak about the role of women in the electricity sector and to encourage member companies to champion gender diversity by signing on to the Accord.
More than 100,000 Canadians work in the electricity sector, which underpins the economy.
“Women now represent only about a quarter of the electricity sector workforce, and – brace for it – only about 5% of trades employees,” writes Walden. “We will increasingly need a workforce with specialized skills to plan, operate, and maintain an increasingly sophisticated power grid. That means we must attract women to critical occupations such as engineers, engineering technicians, technologists and skilled trades.”
She says there are two major benefits for the wind energy industry in supporting the Diversity Accord.
“The first is that our support clearly demonstrates our commitment to building a workforce that mirrors Canada’s diversity, and that recognizes and validates the personal skills of individuals, regardless of gender. The second benefit of supporting the Accord is that diversity and innovation often go hand in hand. The wind energy industry is at the forefront of Canada’s effort to modernize how we generate electricity.”
Read the full blog here.
Filed Under: News, Policy
