On this year’s International Women’s Day, the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ) is pleased to announce that a record number of women worked on construction sites in 2022—over 7,200, an increase of nearly 970 over 2021—accounting for 3.64% of the overall workforce.

Large numbers of women chose to begin a construction career, surpassing the 1,900 mark for a second year in a row and representing a peak of 9.32% of all newcomers to the industry.

“I am delighted to see that the number of women in construction has been growing over the past few years. In light of this new reality, industry partners are working hard to support the retention of women and are striving to foster a healthy and inclusive work environment as they develop phase 3 of the PAEF,” said Diane Lemieux, President and Chief Executive Officer of the CCQ. 

Adopted in 2015, the Programme d'accès à l'égalité des femmes dans l'industrie de la construction (Women in construction equal opportunity program – PAEF) aims to boost the number of women practicing a trade or occupation to address and rectify the underrepresentation of women in the industry.

Women in construction: Facts and figures

In 2022:

• 7,200 women worked on construction sites (3.64%)
• 4,300 companies hired women (15.94%)

Trades and occupations that exceeded the PAEF target:

• 1,700 women painters (24.71%, target 15%)
• 1,420 women carpenters (2.48%, target 2%)
• 1,370 women workers with unskilled occupation status (4.98%, target 3%)
• 420 women plasterers (10.27%, target 10%)
• 120 women insulators (10.21%, target 10%)
• 70 women resilient flooring layers (5.66%, target 3%)
• 20 women pipe welders (3.75%, target 3%)