PROGRAMS, EVENTS & RESOURCES FOR THOSE
Entering the Trades
Who is entering the trades for?
YWITT offers a number of equity-based programs, services, and supports designed to facilitate pathways into the trades for youth, women, and gender diverse folks throughout their education/training and as they launch their careers.
YWITT focuses on creating spaces for people to come together to build skills and create projects in community with the support of a skilled instructor.
Financial Support
Tools, training, and work boots, oh my!
The costs of just GETTING into the trades can add up fast.
If you’re a woman or gender-diverse, YWITT can help with the costs. Our Work Gear Bursary offers $150 to buy tools, gear, personal protective equipment (PPE) or work boots. Our Penny Raven Fund contributes $500-$1000 to support education in technology and skilled trades.
The Penny Raven Fund
Penny was a Yukoner with a very big heart. She was a dedicated volunteer for the Kinettes, an enthusiastic Kapital Kicker at Rendezvous and a founding member of Habitat for Humanity. She discovered Yukon Women in Trades and Technology in 2001, when she took a 2 day YWITT welding workshop and never looked back.
Penny fell in love with welding, taking every course YWITT offered for eight years. The Yukon Women in Trades and Technology Bursary was established in 2008 to promote, encourage and sponsor educational programs and activities in the area of apprenticable trades by providing assistance to women in their quest for training. Penny exemplified the spirit of the bursary fund, and it was renamed in her honour shortly after her death in 2009, so that the work she so strongly believed in would carry on in her memory.
The Penny Raven Memorial Bursaries are $500-$1000 bursaries to be awarded to support education in technology.
Intake deadlines are May 15, September 15, and December 15.
Work Gear Bursary Fund
At YWITT, we are committed to decreasing barriers and increasing access to skilled trades careers.
Safety is paramount on jobsites, yet many people feel like the personal protective equipment (PPE) available to them is uncomfortable and not made for their sizes or body types.
Through our Work Gear fund we offer a one-time bursary to support applicants to buy tools, gear, personal protective equipment (PPE) or work boots. Whether it is a school program (pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship) or for work, we can support you with a one time boost of up to 150$ for your gear. Providing a wide variety of sizes in both men and women creates a more welcoming atmosphere for incoming workers, recognizing the differences between genders and body types. These efforts can help change the landscape when it comes to workplace culture in the industry by making it more inclusive for all workers.
The Work Gear Bursary supports up to 5 individuals per calendar year.
Intake deadlines are January 15, May 15, September 15, and December 15.
AT YWITT