Employer Training

Through the Canadian Apprenticeship Service program, the Atlantic Apprenticeship Authorities are working with community-led organizations to provide a number of FREE training opportunities for trades employers to support the creation of inclusive, psychologically and culturally safe environments for apprentices.

The following training is currently available for employers until March 31, 2024.

This training is funded by the Government of Canada’s Apprenticeship Service.

  • Hosted by: Wisdom2Action
  • Location: Atlantic Canada,
  • Training format: 2 virtual or in-person half-day workshops

Description: Each registered employer will receive an online pre-training survey and two half-day workshops for their employees. The two workshops are: “Introduction to 2SLGBTQIA+ Inclusion" and “Queer and Trans Inclusion in the Workplace” which will include a mix of engaging learning activities.

To learn more/request a workshop, contact: info@wisdom2action.org

Description: The Reach is a new talk show-style video podcast that explores some of the issues that impact our capacity to be inclusive in the workplace and beyond.

Access past episodes at this online playlist (Password: OutReachSME).

Sign up here to receive email notifications when new episodes are released.

  • Hosted by: YWCA Shift Change and Partners
  • Location: Nova Scotia
  • Training format: Zoom sessions and in-person workshops
  • Dates: See available dates at registration link below

Description: This training is for leaders, owners, trainers and teams who are committed to creating respectful workplaces in their company. We Are Trades provides employers with actionable steps to establish a safe and inclusive workplace for women. We Are Trades is designed to guide successful workplace change in three steps: Commit, Create and Sustain.

To learn more or to request a workshop, contact: shiftchange@ywcahalifax.com

Register here: https://nstrades.ca/news/free-industry-training-opportunities

  • Hosted by: Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Authority
  • Location: NS
  • Training format: In-person or virtual full-day workshop (6 hours)

Description: This workshop’s goal is to reduce workplace cultural barriers for women in trades by creating a positive and healthy mentor/mentee relationship. The program will provide employers, journey persons and supervisors with knowledge and strategies they can apply in the workplace to help foster safer, more respectful, inclusive environments for women working in skilled trades professions. This 6-hour workshop is free of charge and includes the following topics:

  • Unconscious Bias
  • Women in Trades
  • Bullying and Harassment
  • Safe and Healthy Workplace
  • Bringing Forward Change
  • Being an Ally
  • Mentoring with Intention

To learn more/register, contact: apprenticeshipSI@novascotia.ca

We Are Trades (NB)
  • Hosted by: MAP Strategic Workforce Services Inc.
  • Location: New Brunswick
  • Training format: In-person workshops
  • Dates: October 23rd, November 1st, November 13th, December 8th, December 19th (Winter dates to come)

Description: The We Are Trades workshops are geared towards skilled trades employers, supervisors, and skilled trades professionals who are interested in supporting the recruitment and retention of women in the skilled trades. In this session, participants will learn the We Are Trades framework, and build practical steps towards creating safe and inclusive workplaces for women.

To learn more and to register, contact: info@mapsws.ca

Description: NBMC’s Culture Connect NB and RePRESENT NB training programs center around assessing organizational culture for unconscious bias that provides barriers to full participation and acceptance by equity-seeking groups in psychologically, socially, and physically safe environments. The training examines three paths of inclusion: Access, Service, and Social.

To learn more and/or sign up, click here or contact: education@mneca.ca.

Description: This workshop’s goal is to reduce workplace cultural barriers for women in trades by creating a positive and healthy mentor/mentee relationship. The program will provide employers, journey persons and supervisors with knowledge and strategies they can apply in the workplace to help foster safer, more respectful, inclusive environments for women working in skilled trades professions. This 6-hour workshop will be offered free of charge and will include the following topics:

  • Unconscious Bias
  • Women in Trades
  • Bullying and Harassment
  • Safe and Healthy Workplace
  • Bringing Forward Change
  • Being an Ally
  • Mentoring with Intention

To learn more/register, contact: mford@womenapprentices.ca

Description: AGE in Trades is a workshop series for trades employers, managers, and foremen/forewomen to work toward fostering an inclusive and safe workplace for all employees. AGE in Trades brings together the expertise of PEERS Alliance, BIPOC USHR, and Women’s Network PEI to educate and support employers on three main topics:

  • Brave Spaces 101: Explore the changing landscape of the language associated with the diversity of gender and sexuality, and cultural contexts. Understand what inclusivity and creating a brave space means for the 2SLGBTQ+ community and its allies and identify strategies for supporting 2SLGBTQ+ inclusivity.
  • Anti-racism: The Basics: Understanding racial trauma and how it is perpetuated. Engage in conversations on intersectionality and how various marginalized identities (e.g., gender, ability, class, sexual orientation, etc.) intersect to create unique experiences of oppression, and explore ways to reduce unconscious bias and white privilege.
  • IGNITE a Healthy Workplace: A self assessment opportunity for employers to assess their own workplace for policies and practices which support diversity in the trades. Employers are supported to identify areas of success and areas that need improvement within their company/workplace. 

For more information, contact: admin@wnpei.org