By: Natalie Hamilton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, KawarthaNOW

When David Piccini was at a Cobourg high school this fall, he was struck by how many female students were looking to pursue a career in the trades. 

The Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP was at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in October to announce $241,280 in funding for Junior Achievement of Northern and Eastern Ontario (JA-NEO) when he made that observation. 

"It was incredible to see young girls looking to carve a career in the trades," Piccini told kawarthaNOW. 

Piccini, who is also Ontario's Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, shared the anecdote in light of a November announcement about the province's intention to introduce the Working For Workers Six Act that, if passed, will support families and help more women enter and remain in the skilled trades by creating a new job-protected parental leave for adoptive parents and parents through surrogacy.

The government would also create a new 27-week job-protected leave for workers with serious illnesses, and support women in the trades by requiring all sectors to have properly fitting personal protective clothing and equipment (PPE) for women.

"Our government has a clear mission: ensure Ontario continues to be the very best place to live, work, and raise a family," Picinni said in a media release.

"That means making sure Ontarians never have to choose between being a worker or a parent, and that if a worker gets sick with a critical illness they can take the time to recover without worrying about their job. We're also promoting and protecting tradeswomen as an essential part of our workforce in every sector: we see you, we value you, and we can't build Ontario's future without you."

According to Piccini, investing in women makes sense.

"We cannot build the homes, hospitals, and schools we need leaving 50 per cent of our workforce behind," he told kawarthaNOW. "It is incredibly rewarding to get out into classrooms and training centres to see so many women with a passion for trades."

"We have been listening to women in Ontario and working to address their concerns so that the skilled trades environment is inclusive for women," Piccini added. "We introduced common sense changes to ensure properly fitting PPE — gloves, masks and boots — that are integral to the safety of workers and we need to make sure women are supported on the job site. The work we are doing has already had a profound impact on young women."

Piccini cited a "staggering" 225 per cent increase in women registering for apprenticeships since 2018. 

"This will have an incredible impact on the workforce of Ontario," he pointed out.

The province's upcoming legislation will propose a new 16-week job-protected leave under the Employment Standards Act for adoptive parents and parents through surrogacy, to ensure they have adequate time to meet the demands of the adoption or surrogacy process and attach and welcome their child into their new home. This would also align with upcoming federal changes to create employment insurance (EI) benefits for adoption, according a media release. 

The Ontario government also expects to propose a new 27-week long-term illness leave for employees unable to work due to a serious medical condition as defined by a medical practitioner, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, or Crohn's disease. If passed, this would be one of the longest provincial leaves in Canada and would ensure workers with a serious medical condition have the time away from work they need to get treatment and recover, without risking their jobs, the province noted.

The government is also ensuring workers have access to clean washrooms by proposing specific requirements on employers that will increase accountability and transparency with washroom cleaning records. 

This would build on the new duties for employers and constructors related to clean washrooms that were passed under the Working for Workers Five Act, one of six pieces of legislation the Ontario government has introduced since 2021 to support workers.