b'CELEBRATING WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRYAfter COVID-19, the Women in Mechanical Contracting committee begins to spread its wingsSARAH B. HOODS lowly but surely, women have been gaining ground inprovide leadership skills and camaraderie, to say: weve got a lot mechanical construction. MCAC CEO Tania Johnstonof very bright, talented women; how can we support them?recalls that when she joined the association in 2000,One thing WiMC does is allow us to celebrate and showcase the there were no female participants in the Construction Projectcontributions of women in the sector, says MCAC COO Ken Management Course at the University of Waterloo. Now, in aLancastle. Women are an underrepresented group, but they are class of 24, we might have five, she says. already doing great things within the sector, from trades to senior Similarly, when she started the Student Chapter Program aboutmanagement in companies. There are a lot of success stories 12 years ago, I would say it was five- to 10-per-cent female; nowacross the country.its 40 to 50 per cent. Were seeing more women enter mechanical engineering, and were seeing them get hired by mechanicalJudy-Lynn Mason became chair of the WiMC committee in late contracting firms. 2022. She is an industry veteran, with 25 years of experience In 2018, to recognize the increasing role of women in thein finance and more than 20 in construction, currently serving sector, MCAC followed the lead of the Mechanical Contractorsas CFO of ServcoCanada. She is only the second chair in the Association of America (MCAA) in starting a new committee:committees history. Women in Mechanical Contracting (WiMC). We had fullMason knows the value of networking and mentorship for board support, Johnston says. The intent was to providewomen in construction. She acknowledges the importance of support for women who were already working in the industry, totwo mentors who encouraged her to advance in her career: 32 www.mcac.ca'