Written for Mediaplanet’s industry/labour awareness campaign.
Published in Maclean’s magazine in December 2015.
In 2001, after working in a lumber store for more than a decade, Andrea Coulson was struggling to build the life she wanted for her young family.
“The hours were crazy; it was always nights and weekends for minimal pay,” says Coulson, a mother of three who had worked her way up to Department Manager but still found it difficult to cover the cost of daycare.
The Oshawa mom of three was ready to make a change and, following a colleagues suggestion, decided to explore opportunities in the skilled trades — a pivotal move that she now credits her successful career as a Nuclear Construction Project Coordinator and Estimator to.
Ishani Nath 