Young Women's Initiatives

Skills Ontario’s Young Women’s Initiatives is a collection of engaging and hands-on events and programs that provide skills development and mentorship opportunities to young women. 

Career Exploration Events Parent/Guardian Information Events Young Women's Conferences International Women's Day Conference International Day of the Girl Activity Series Women in Trades Resource Hub Collaborating Organizations GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ 2021 Attempt Event

Annual Calendar of Events

Dates	Event	Audience
March	International Women's Day Conference	Students in grades 11-12 and post-secondary school, apprentices, businesswomen, tradeswomen, and advocates
May	Young Women's Conferences	Grades 6-12
September - June	Career Exploration Events	Grades 7-12
October	International Day of the Girl Activity Series	Grades 5-8
December - May	Parent/Guardian Information Events	Grades 7-12 students and their parents/guardians

 

---

 

Thank you to our Young Women's Initiatives Partners:

 
This program is funded by the Government of Ontario.

Program Partner

 

Progressive Contractors Association of Canada

Supporting Partner     

 

---

Skills Ontario Career Exploration Events

(Back to top)

Career Exploration Events – Daytime Student        

Skills Ontario is proud to once again present a series of Career Exploration Events for young women in senior elementary and secondary school. These events provide participants the opportunity to integrate experiential workshops and networking with mentors. We will be hosting our programming in a virtual format for the 2021-22 school year until further notice.

Going virtual has allowed us to reach a larger audience and to offer more spaces. This has allowed full co-ed classes as well as young women to learn about the skilled trades and technologies! We know this year will be another challenging year and we strive to keep everything as simple and consistent as possible as we all continue to navigate working around COVID-19. For this year’s events, we will be posting event dates and workshop specifics as events are secured, providing a detailed event agenda for each event.

Events are hosted on Google Meets and do allow for co-ed participation in order to follow school policies where classes are unable to divide. Each event will still be allocated a “location” as previous years. This is navigational to school boards/colleges.

Below is a list of our Young Women’s regional 2020/21 event offerings we will have detail available as the events are solidified so that we can provide a full overview of the event.

NOTE – Once a date is secured, it will be posted online and will not change unless an unforeseen circumstance occurs. At that time, a notice will be posted to our website and all registered participants will be notified. All event details will be updated as each date is secured in the chart below. Please note all Career Exploration Events start at 9:30 am and wrap up at 11:30 am, unless otherwise noted in the flyer.

*New this year fully francophone events - dates to come.

 Register Here

Virtual Region	Grades	Co-host	Date	Flyer
Thunder Bay	7-12	Confederation College	October 27th	View Flyer
Barrie	7-12	Georgian College	December 2nd	View Flyer
Guelph	7-12	Conestoga College	December 3rd	View Flyer
Sault Ste. Marie	7-12	Sault College	December 16th	View Flyer
Open	7-12	Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada	January 13th	View Flyer
Belleville	7-12	Loyalist College	February 9th	Coming Soon
Sudbury	7-12	Cambrian College	February 10th	View Flyer
Ottawa	7-12	Algonquin College	February 24th	View Flyer
Brampton	7-12	Sheridan College	March 2nd	Coming Soon
Whitby	7-12	Durham College	March 3rd	Coming Soon
Timmins	7-12	Coming Soon	Coming Soon	Coming Soon
Kenora	7-12	Coming Soon	Coming Soon	Coming Soon
Tiverton	7-12	Coming Soon	Coming Soon	Coming Soon
Kapuskasing	7-12	Coming Soon	Coming Soon	Coming Soon
Niagara	7-12	Coming Soon	Coming Soon	Coming Soon

 

Sample Event Agenda

 

School/Student Registration

Events will be free and any that require a registration fee, will be listed with the event date/register button.

IMPORTANT: In select events, some workshops may require an informed consent form to be signed by the parent/ guardian depending on the workshop activity. This will be indicated with the event.

Teachers and board contacts are to register students in grades 7-12.

 

How Registration Works

Each Teacher or Board contact will register an entire class/cohort/bubble as one (1) ticket for the regional event they choose. In the “regional” events, if a co-host is listed, workshops will be based off their programming/campus. The region you select does not have to be the region closest to your school board.

One ticket allows for one device to join the event. This link is NOT to be shared. Each event has a maximum number of devices that can log on. Teachers are asked to share their screen with their class, either in-person in a classroom (i.e. from a projector or TV hooked up to their device) and/or in a virtual classroom by screen sharing. If a teacher has a class/cohort/bubble that is a combination of in-person and virtual students, we recommend that the device is connected to a projector or TV at the front of the class, while also logged into the virtual classroom and screensharing. If this is not possible to share in this recommended option, please contact rkappes@skillsontario.com – we are happy to discuss different options!

This system allows the most opportunities for students to join and attend each individual event. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email - this will not include the link to the event. A few days prior to the event you registered for, another email with the link to access Google Meets will be sent to you. Again, please ensure that this link is not shared.

If you have any questions, please contact rkappes@skillsontario.com.

Register a Guest

A guest is classified as a dignitary, community partner, sponsor, or other interested party who is not part of a school registration. Please email ywc@skillsontario.com to register.

Becoming a Mentor and/or Hosting a Workshop

Are you a woman who works in the skilled trades and technologies and looking to share your experience and skilled trade and technology? Volunteer as a mentor or to host a workshop at one of our events! Email ywc@skillsontario.com.

---

*NEW* Parent/Guardian Skilled Trade & Technology Information Series

(Back to top)

---

Women in Trades Resource Hub

(Back to top)

Awards for Women in Trades	Camps, Classes & E-Learning for Youth	Colleges
Resources, Publications & Research	Scholarships, Bursaries & Grants	Skilled Trades Training Programs
Support Groups & Organizations	Workwear For Women

 

---

Collaborating Organizations

(Back to top)

Skills Ontario is on the forefront of making change in our province! We are thrilled to be partnering with women in skilled trade and technology organizations and groups to stand together and make an impact. We are united with the same goals and initiatives and will promote exciting opportunities for women through skill development, mentorship, networking, and experiential learning opportunities at our Young Women’s Career Exploration Events and Young Women’s Conference.