Sask. women are breaking barriers in male-dominated trades
'You're going to be happier doing what you love': welder Ari Dyck
Miss Rodeo Agribition 2023 has always been passionate about horsemanship and barrel racing, but Ari Dyck also felt a spark the first time she picked up a welding torch.
She took welding in Grade 9 and found she really enjoyed it.
"The welding instructor told me, 'Hey, you're really good at this, take it in Grade 10,'" she said.
"Turns out I got that welding bug. It bit me and now I've made a career out of it, because I just I loved it and I didn't see myself doing anything else."
Dyck went right into welding right out of high school and hasn't looked back. She said she loves the attention to detail required in the job.
"I'm a very precise person. I like things to be perfect," she said.
"I like to explore new techniques and you really have to make sure you have good fusion. You have to make sure everything is set up correctly."
Statistics Canada data from 2022 says women made up only 5.9 per cent of workers in Saskatchewan in the category of "trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations."
Dyck said a lot of people, especially older people, are surprised when they find out she is a welder.
"I like that it surprises people because it catches them off guard and then they're just flooded with questions for me," said Dyck. "I love answering questions. It's part of being a rodeo queen as well. You get asked questions all the time, but it's nice because it's a good conversation starter as well."
When she was crowned Miss Rodeo Argibition, Dyck spoke a lot about women in trades. She said a lot of younger women have approached her since then about how they can get into a trade.
She said she tells them to go out and apply to companies if they have experience, or apply to trades programs to get needed experience. She also lets them know there are scholarships and support they can apply for.
"Don't let negative comments or the negative impacts of people affect you. It's your own life. No one else leads it but you. If you want to go into a trade, no matter what trade it is, do it," she said.
"It's better to love doing your job and love what you're doing than not. And you're going to be happier doing what you love to do."
'I didn't realize it was an option': carpenter
When Summer Wynne was young she never saw women working in the trades, so never thought that one day she would be working as a carpenter and scaffolder.
"I had never considered it," she said. "My father was a tradesman and basically that was what my perception of the trades was, and women belonged in the office.
"I didn't realize it was an option for [women]."
Before getting into the trades, Wynne worked in customer service and sales.
"I wasn't really getting ahead and I wasn't feeling fulfilled," she said.
"When I finally got an opportunity to take some construction training, I caught on pretty quickly and it was a lot of fun."
She said she makes better money now and is happy with her career change. She's in the carpenters union, travels a lot for work, meets a lot of new people and learns a lot of new skills.
Wynne said her advice for other women thinking of entering the trades is to keep all your receipts, but also, "keep trying new things, and if it doesn't work for you, there's plenty of other ways to get it done."
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With files from Blue Sky