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Women build futures in the Kitikmeot

Fourteen women took part in a seven-day workshop last week that gave them background on working in the construction industry.

More women are expressing interest in careers within the construction industry, according to Michelle Buchan, manager of Inuit employment and training with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association.

Three facilitators representing an Edmonton-based organization called Women Building Futures flew to Cambridge Bay to discuss educational requirements and career options. Some local contractors also came by to gave insight into the nature of their occupations.

"It's helping to inform them what life in a trade is really like, what they can expect and what kinds of trades are available to them," said Michelle Buchan, manager of Inuit employment and training with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, which sponsored the workshop along with the federal government and Green Row Executive Suites.

Some workshop participants may opt to travel to Edmonton and enroll in the Women Building Futures program, which is exclusively for women and arranges accommodations and coaching, Buchan noted. Other participants might decide to get involved with the pre-trades program through Nunavut Arctic College, she suggested.

This is the second time the program has been offered in the Kitikmeot. The first was in 2012.

"In the last five years we've had more and more women looking into that sort of (construction trades career)," said Buchan. "There's such a call for all those kinds of trades here."