Today, the CCQ unveils the 2016 summary of the Programme d’accès à l’égalité des femmes dans l’industrie de la construction (PAEF) 2015-2024, as well as the appendix that presents what has been accomplished by the employer and union associations. Overall, the different measures set out in the PAEF, which aims for women’s equality in the construction industry, are well on the way to achievement. All of the partners are working to bring their respective commitments to fruition.

The summary in figures

In 2016, almost 10% more women were working in the industry, bringing their proportion in the workforce from 1.48% to 1.62%. Overall, the level of achievement of the 40 measures in the 2015–18 phase rose to 66% in 2016 from 53% in 2015. As of 2016, 38 of the 40 measures were underway, and 13 were even completed.

The CCQ: A partner in action

In 2016, the CCQ launched major initiatives enabling it to achieve a number of the measures for which it is responsible:

• The regulations were changed to accelerate women’s access to the industry and to favour keeping them on the job. These regulatory changes also have also stimulated companies’ interest in hiring women, and women are answering the call. As many women joined the industry in the first six months of 2017 as in all of 2016; more than 500 women have benefited from access measures for women after only six months of implementation.
• The CCQ has created the Service d’accompagnement pour l’intégration des femmes dans l’industrie de la construction for women joining the industry and all those who wish to support them.
• The La mixité en chantier campaign, the main message of which is “Woman or man, it’s the skills that count” was set up to raise awareness among women, companies, and the partners in the industry, as well as the general public.
• In the context of these new measures coming into effect, information about the PAEF was circulated to CCQ personnel.

A collective challenge

The PAEF stands out from other equal-access programs in other industries because, by nature, it is collective. The entire industry and its partners must meet the challenge of diversity in the construction industry. The CCQ will be intensifying its efforts to ensure that the measures it wrote into the program bear fruit.

Consult the Bilan 2016 du PAEF and its appendix (in french only).