St. Clair College hosted around 100 female students from local high schools to expose them to jobs in the skilled trades.
The students who attended the Jill of All Trades event welded metal flowers, made tool boxes out of sheet metal, and toured mechanical and electrical workshops.
"It's a really good introduction for girls who have never seen the trades to come and try it out," said Nick Hayes, apprenticeship manager at St. Clair College.
In the next five years, it's estimated Canada will need 75,000 new people in the skilled trades.
"When you look across the country and the province, only five per cent of trades people are female. We have a lack of trades people in our country and if we can't draw from the, I guess we'll say normal demographic, what's the next place we go, females," said Hayes.
Only about two per cent of 15-year-old female students indicate they are planning to pursue a career in the skilled trades.
Hayes said the goal through the event is to expose more students to these possibilities.
Grade 10 student Jaylynn Jewell, who tried her hand at welding during the event, said she is open to exploring a lot of career paths.
"I always thought that I would do something medical or maybe a teacher. I'm still a bit interested in medical but it also helps to have these skilled trades activities to see and explore other things," said Jewell.
This is the second year St. Clair College has held the event. Hayes said after the first event, there was an increased interest in the trades from those who participated.