Canadian Lawyer InHouse

27 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE SEPTEMBER 2015 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE C onstruction is an industry that has tradition- ally attracted a male workforce. Women either did not feel welcome or did not pursue careers in engineering and skilled trades. Aecon Group Inc.'s legal team is trying to take a lead role in the compa- ny's mission to change that and foster a diverse and welcoming workplace. Some of Aecon's diversity objectives in the past year include increasing the number of women and ab- originals in skilled trades, and increasing the number of women in management positions at the company. In the last year, Aecon's legal team has developed corporate diversity and board diversity policies. The fi rst promotes equality in the workplace and addresses the roadblocks that have led to an industry without diversity. The board diversity policy was developed to ensure it becomes a tool of board renewal at Aecon. In 2013, just 21 per cent of Financial Post 500 companies had a diversity policy at the board level. This number was even lower in the construction and mining industries, with only 16 per cent of mining FP500 companies having board diversity policies. Aecon has recently elected a woman as a director, and its most recent executive committee member is a woman. "Aecon has set an objective to have no less than 25 per cent women on its board by 2017," says Martina Doyle, corporate counsel with Aecon. "On an annual basis, the board will reconsider the target." Currently, women represent 29 per cent of Aecon's salaried workforce, and six per cent of that is from the hourly workforce. Many of these positions are at the assistant level. Only 16 per cent of Aecon employees at the manager level are women, while 38 per cent of its workforce below the manager level consists of women. However, the amount of women choosing construction for a career has increased over the last 20 years. While only fi ve per cent of Aecon's vice presidents are women, 20 per cent of Aecon's executive committee is made up of women. The legal team refl ects the diversity goals of the company with seven women out of its 17 members, including 20 per cent of the lawyers, on the team. To achieve its diversity objectives, Aecon did research into the challenges of creating a diverse workforce in the construction industry, then executed a plan. Part of this strategy included the creation of a Women of Aecon Group for women employees to discuss the issues they face. Members of the legal team have organized and supported the Women of Aecon Group, which was created by Ariana Daile, project risk manager and a member of the legal team. Another initiative has been Aecon's outreach program for Canadian First Nations. This in- cludes the building of remote training facilities and creating education programs with the Oper- ating Engineer's Training Institute of Ontario. The program provides people from First Na- tions opportunities to establish careers in skilled trades. About 20 per cent of Aecon's skilled trade workforce is a First Nations member. The legal team negotiated all of the con- tracts with the training institute and First Na- tions groups to construct the remote training facilities and set up the education and training programs, as well as establishing job opportu- nities post-graduation. Aecon is the only con- struction company to build remote training centres on First Nations lands in Ontario. "Once a project is done, we leave the people there with better training and ability to expand their careers even after we've left the com- munity," says Doyle. SANDRA STRANGMORE Breaking down barriers in construction BACK (L TO R) Yonni Fushman, vice president and assistant general counsel Marco Girorelli, project manager Sean Lal, associate legal counsel Remi Tremblay, associate legal counsel Niguel Mousseau, legal counsel Ariana Dalie, senior manager, project insurance and risk MIDDLE (L TO R) Rebecca Murphy, administrative assistant Elisa Watson, administrative assistant Beatriz Salmoran, administrative assistant Charles Todd, comm. director, strategic projects Gabriella Kinda-Zoretic, contract & risk co-ordinator Brian Swartz, executive vice president, legal & commercial services FRONT (L TO R) Louise Smyth-Kaiser, contracts/risk management specialist Ernie Chan, director, legal western Canada CATEGORY: Diversity DEPARTMENT SIZE: Small COMPANY: Aecon Construction Inc.

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