2025 OBCT Recruitment and Retention Research Initiative

The Ontario Building and Construction Tradeswomen (OBCT) led the 2025 Recruitment and Retention Research Initiative to explore how to better support women to enter and stay in the construction trades. OBCT is a committee made up of hundreds of Ontario tradeswomen who are working together to advocate for women and underrepresented gender identities in the trades to ensure they feel inspired, welcomed, motivated, challenged and empowered. This report shares a summary of the findings of this work and a series of recommendations designed to improve recruitment and retention of women in the trades in the years and decades ahead.