More and more women working in the construction industry 

On International Women’s Day 2022, the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ) announces that it has reached the target for its Programme d’accès à l’égalité des femmes dans l’industrie de la construction (PAEF, Program for Women’s Equal Access to the Construction Industry) 2015–2024, with more than 3% of workers in the industry being women.

In 2021, 6,220 women were working in the construction industry, accounting for 3.27% of the total workforce. This is an increase of 1,375 over 2020, a historic gain for the industry. 

“I’m particularly proud to announce the achievement of our target on this day that recognizes the rights of women,” noted Diane Lemieux, CEO of the CCQ. “I would like to underline the resiliency and strength of women workers, many of whom have had to overcome various challenges to work on construction sites. They are pioneers! Although much work remains to be done, a real change is happening in the construction industry.” 

The objective of the Programme d’accès à l'égalité des femmes dans l’industrie de la construction (PAEF), adopted in 2015, is to increase the number of women practising a trade or occupation and therefore to correct the situation of underrepresentation of women workers. 

Women in the industry: a few numbers

6,220 women working on construction sites (3.27%)

3,900 companies hire women (14.71%)

1,520 practise the trade of painter (23.00% of women workers)