How do we make tomorrow better today?

For Andrew Reimer, Manager of Business Development at Star Building Materials, that question stopped being theoretical the moment he sat down for the Be More Than a Bystander training course hosted by Manitoba Construction Sector Council (MCSC) and Manitoba Heavy Construction Association (MHCA). The challenge presented wasn’t about building better projects, but building better workplaces.

“There’s been growth in diversity in construction, but it’s definitely still male-dominated,” Reimer said. “The stats we were presented with about what women deal with in the workplace were pretty shocking.”

MCSC has been staring that reality down for years, and they know the future of construction isn’t just about what gets built, but about who gets to build it and whether they’re welcomed when they show up.

That mindset sparked a 29-month partnership between MCSC and the Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades, and Technology (CCWESTT). The goal? Move beyond talk and into action.

MCSC had already been supporting women and non-binary individuals entering the trades. But they needed to confront the hard truth that if the workplace culture doesn’t change, neither will retention.

“We know it’s important to host women’s conferences and training,” said MCSC Executive Director Carol Paul. “But they’re still going back into male-dominated workplaces. If we’re not supporting the men, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. Men have to be at the table to make this change happen.”

That’s where the partnership sharpened its focus.

“We’re coming from a perspective that the system is broken,” said CCWESTT Project Coordinator Jove Nazatul. “So let’s fix the system rather than fixing the people in it.”

With just two and a half years of funding, there was no time to reinvent the wheel. Instead, CCWESTT brought proven programs to Manitoba and got them working on the ground. That included a coaction discussion led by non-profit Next Gen Men, the Shift Change course developed by the YWCA in Halifax, and the Be More Than a Bystander course created by Ending Violence Association of B.C. and the B.C. Lions Football Club.

Each tackled the same issue from a different angle, and together have started to shift the tone on jobsites.

The coaction discussion opened the door by highlighting the importance of psychological safety in workplaces where people can be themselves, and having men as stakeholders in creating gender equality on the job site.

“Women and gender-diverse participants came away feeling that they better understood how to talk to men in the skilled trades and engage them in this work without triggering defensiveness,” said Nazatul. “It was helpful for the men to feel seen and heard, and to feel that people are considering what their experience is like.”

Shift Change dug deeper. In a room with just men, the conversations got real.

“There were really personal conversations about their experiences,” explained Paul, giving a second-hand account since she ensured she wasn’t in the session either. “Participants were quite emotional about their stories. Many of them have daughters and were considering how they would want their daughters to be treated. But men tend to only do that when it’s just men in the room.”

Be More Than a Bystander then turned awareness into action.

“It gave us practical tools,” said Reimer. “How to step in, what to say, even non-verbal ways to intervene. And because it’s a train-the-trainer course, we can bring it back to our own teams and keep the momentum going.”

That ripple effect might be the most important outcome of all. Because culture change doesn’t happen in a single workshop, but in a hundred small moments on job sites, in lunchrooms, and during conversations that used to be avoided.

Nazatul put it simply: “It’s about seeing people as people, each with fears and insecurities. We need to give people the grace and space to learn and grow without judgment.”

Because when people feel safe, they speak up. When they feel respected, they stay. And when they stay, the industry builds a stronger, more resilient workforce.

So how do we make tomorrow better today in the construction industry?

Like any good building, it starts with the foundation and a commitment to making inclusion a part of every build, every day.