While Tessa Ferzli no longer calls Winnipeg home, fond memories of the river city where she grew up still flow through her thoughts on a regular basis.

“I ended up coming here to Ottawa because my dad’s in the Air Force, and I took some shop classes throughout high school,” says Ferzli. Now a 401(a) Red Seal brick and stone mason by trade right out of high school, she’s now owns her own business and life is good.

“I’m celebrating my 10 years actually in the industry.”

Certainly a lot to celebrate for Ferzli, but it hasn’t always been an easy journey as she says it can be isolating at times. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, isolation is one main reason that 44% of women in construction have seriously considered leaving their jobs.

“I got into the trade so young,” remembers Ferzli, reflecting back on the past decade. “I never saw another woman around, and when I did, there wasn’t a lot of camaraderie back then.”

That was then; this is now.

“I got sick of being a part of the boys’ club, and I wanted a community where I could make friends and have networking opportunities,” asserts Ferzli.

Along with three other co-founders, Ferzli launched Women on Site with the objective of retaining and supporting more women in construction, manufacturing, and STEM industries. What started as a modest meet-up of women in related fields in Toronto a few years ago has quickly spread to WOS meet-ups across Canada, now including Winnipeg.

“I’ve made sure our location is central, and that we are supporting women owned businesses where we meet and spend time,” says Kelsey Heide, the Winnipeg lead for WOS. Working in the construction trades for the City of Winnipeg and in the agriculture industry, she has enjoyed seeing the women who attend the meet-up benefit from the shared experiences of others just like them.

“We all share the connection of having similar experiences working in primarily male dominated industries, allowing the meetups to become the perfect place to connect and communicate our day to day experiences with other women who fully understand what it’s like working in these types of fields.”

The WOS Winnipeg meet-ups are supported in partnership with Manitoba Construction Sector Council (MCSC) and Manitoba Women in Construction (MWC).

For Carol Paul, MCSC’s Executive Director, partnering with WOS was an opportunity she jumped at immediately. “MCSC strongly advocates for women in trades and construction through all kinds of training and events, which has amassed a considerable network of women at all levels in their respective careers,” advises Paul. “So has MWIC, and all together, WOS’s Winnipeg meet-ups is another meaningful opportunity to strengthen and broaden our reach.”

WOS meet-ups in Winnipeg started a year ago, meeting on a monthly basis. If you’d like to learn more about Women On Site and see their events schedule, check out their website www.womenonsite.ca/ or check out their Instagram www.instagram.com/women.on.site