Speaking Notes for the Honourable Helena Guergis, P.C., M.P. Minister of State (Status of Women) on the occasion of an announcement of funding for the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance Women In Technology (CATA WIT): Supporting Women's Leadership in the Advanced Technology Sectors

March 10, 2009

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Ladies and gentlemen, it is a delight to be here and to offer my congratulations to the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance.

I applaud the work done to create the Women in Technology organization and to launch the project Supporting Women's Leadership in the Advanced Technology Sectors.

I am very pleased that the Government of Canada is a key partner in the project – an initiative that will help bring more women into the high-tech sector.  It will also help those women already working in the sector to improve the enormous range of skills, knowledge and expertise necessary for success.

Canadian business women are making major contributions to our economy, as high-ranking employees of some of our largest firms, by running successful businesses of their own and by serving on boards of directors. 

Indeed, some of those successful businesswomen are here with us today.  And I salute you for your efforts and for leading the way for the thousands of other women who will follow in your footsteps.

We want to make that path easier for young Canadian women.   A career in advanced technology is not necessarily on the radar screen of young women when they think about their future.  But I believe that Canadian women simply need the opportunity to participate in this field.  CATA WIT will create that opportunity, and it will build on this Government's support of science and technology.

Our government supports science and technology because doing so creates jobs – for women and men - improves Canadians' quality of life and builds a stronger economy for future generations.  That's why the Prime Minister launched our government's Science and Technology Strategy in 2007.  It's also why we've invested an additional $2.4 billion in R&D since 2006 and why our Economic Action Plan is making an additional $5.1 billion in new investments.  Our goal is to attract the best researchers, provide them with the best equipment and help them get their innovations from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of all Canadians.  And CATA WIT will ensure that some of these researchers will be women.

That is why I am so pleased to announce a project like this one – Supporting Women's Leadership in the Advanced Technology Sectors – because it will help remove the barriers that keep women from capitalizing on the growth and employment opportunities that are available in the advanced technology sector.

CATA WIT will receive $405,000 over two fiscal years for the project, Supporting Women's Leadership in the Advanced Technology Sectors.  This initiative will use mentoring and other tools to help break down barriers facing women.

I would like to take this opportunity to outline some of outcomes of this project:

• 135 women will participate in the development and mentorship workshops on networking and improved leadership skills;
• 75 women will help identify leading practices for women across the advanced technology sector;
• 60 women will help develop the tools that support and promote the participation of women; and
• 25,000 men and women business leaders will increase their knowledge of best practices on growth-oriented, women-owned firms. 

The current picture in the high-tech field backs up the urgent need for this kind of initiative. Women make up about 47 per cent of the overall workforce, but only 30 per cent of the workforce in the information and communication technology area.  At our universities, less than 20 per cent of engineering and computer science students are female. 

This, coupled with overall declining university enrollment of men and women in advanced technology-related fields, has led some industry leaders to forecast a significant skills shortage in the advanced technology sector over the next three to 10 years.

So, this project, Supporting Women's Leadership in the Advanced Technology Sectors, could not be more timely!  The industry needs more competent people – estimates are that up to 89,000 new information and communications technology jobs will be created over the next three to five years.  And there are thousands of women ready to explore and expand the opportunities available to them in this exciting sector of our economy.
I also want to salute the other companies, universities and government agencies partnering with us and with CATA WIT in this project.  These include:

• Helix Collaboration Commerce Association;
• Extreme Productivity;
• CATA;
• R3D Inc.;
• MTS Allstream;
• Merrill Lynch;
• ICTC;
• the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance – or IRAP – Program;
• Microsoft;
• Knowys Group;
• Ryerson University; and
• the University of Ottawa. 

The Government of Ontario is also coming on board as a partner in this exciting initiative, with the support of the Honourable Deb Matthews, Ontario's Minister Responsible for Women's Issues, and the Ontario Women's Directorate.

The advanced technology sector is opening up vast new horizons for our economy and for human development around the world.  I congratulate all of you for the efforts you are making to ensure that women will play a larger and larger role in these exciting fields.

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