Teresa Waddington has a message for women contemplating a career in the oil and gas sector.

“When you look at what you should dedicate your life to, I can’t imagine a better place than energy,” she says. “We need your creativity and ability to tackle problems and the unique value set that young people, especially young women, bring to the industry.”

The chemical engineer and vice-president of corporate affairs with LNG Canada is part of a growing number of women working in oil and gas – from pipelines to refineries to boardrooms.

Waddington’s parents and siblings are engineers – a “genetic requirement” she says with a laugh. Both parents worked in oil and gas.

Decades ago, her mother was given questionable career advice upon entering the workforce – “Never use your name, just initials, so gender isn’t obvious, dress in a masculine manner, and don’t speak about your children.”

“She took that advice and threw it straight out the window,” Waddington says. “One specific memory that has shaped a lot of what I do was watching my mom grab her hardhat after she painted her nails and then heading to her job at the refinery. I’m on a mission to turn my dad’s oil patch into my daughter’s energy garden.”

According to research by the Canadian Energy Centre, nearly 31 per cent of the jobs in Canada’s oil and gas sector are held by women, while annual wages and salaries for women have increased over 30 per cent since 2009.

That’s a higher level than in the global industry. Data from Catalyst and S&P Global indicates women comprise less than one-quarter of oil and gas workers worldwide. Only 17 per cent of executives are women, while 27 percent of entry-level jobs are held by women.

With a liquefied natural gas export facility under construction in Kitimat on the west coast of B.C., LNG Canada will export Canadian natural gas to Asian markets, and in the process, put Canada on the map of LNG exporting countries.

With a capital cost of $17 billion, LNG Canada represents one of the largest energy investments in Canadian history – and Waddington is excited about the company’s role in helping reduce emissions – providing LNG to jurisdictions currently reliant on coal-fired power. She’s also determined to ensure LNG Canada’s workforce reflects the communities in which the company operates.

“We are trying to ensure that we are helping upskill a Canadian workforce for an industry that’s never existed here on this scale before,” she says. “Our ability to affect massive change both on how Canada plays a role in the energy transition and decarbonizing and offering lower emissions fuel to the globe is profound – anything that impacts global climate in a positive way is a good step forward for everyone.”

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A new wave of female talent is reaching the shore of Canada’s energy sector, continuing to erode outdated workplace stereotypes, crashing through barriers, and delivering innovation. 

One of the most challenging workplaces in the industry is offshore drilling. Long hours, isolation, and potentially dangerous conditions can take a toll. As a young scientist, Jodie Scott was up for the challenge. Instead of finding a comfortable office job after graduation, she spent two years off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador working as a wellsite geologist for Schlumberger. 

“Honestly, it was probably the most exciting and the coolest thing I’ll ever do in my whole life,” she said. “I think that it is also one of the hardest things I would do in my whole life. There’s the need to be on-the-ball all the time, especially when there’s critical well control involved.” 

Offshore rigs are a male-dominated community, said Scott, who is now executive director of World Petroleum Council Canada Future Leaders. In a crew of over 200, there may be 10 or 15 women working primarily in kitchen and laundry services. That’s changing as more women pursue technical and scientific jobs.  

“That’s one of the circumstances where representation does matter – companies trusting that you’re out there doing a good job,” she said. “Imagine yourself as a 22-year-old woman going offshore for the first time, your entire crew is male. How welcome are you going to feel? I felt welcomed” 

Ashley Fernandes, vice-president of drilling optimization and drilling technology at Precision Drilling, is on a mission to boost female participation in his department from 12 per cent to 20 per cent by the end of 2023. There’s a growing number of women – industry wide – succeeding as field supervisors, he said. 

“The successes they’re bringing, the motivation for change, is great,” he said. Fernandes said he once worked in a technical office with 28 women. 

“It was one of the best engineering teams in the world,” he said. “I encourage women to join engineering and operations teams.” 

The Canadian energy sector is pivoting away from a male-dominated workplace, said Victoria Clark, a chemical engineer who works as a carbon sequestration advisor with Enbridge. Companies are working hard to ensure women feel included, she said. More women are in management positions – acting as role models for a new generation of female professionals. 

“There are many young women in Calgary trained in energy-related positions and backgrounds who would love to take some of these jobs,” she said.  

“There’s a lot of value to companies if they pursue a diverse workforce and the best way to ensure that is being inclusive and making it very clear publicly. Companies are looking for new and exciting ideas and those often come from new people who haven’t been in the space before.” 

The LNG Canada project is planning for 50 per cent gender balance in the coming years, said Candace Newman, the project’s vice-president of human resources and real estate. Now in the construction phase in the port of Kitimat, B.C., approximately four per cent to seven per cent of the company’s craft and trades workforce is female, she said, noting the number could double or triple. 

Women can be excellent welders, said Newman. They’re also excellent equipment operators. At the corporate level, female board members drive investment and revenue, she said.  

Particularly in the oil and gas industry, women bring a different approach to innovation and decision making, Newman said.  

Despite progress, there’s room for bringing more women into the energy sector, said Katie Smith-Parent, executive director of Young Women in Energy. 

“We are more than 50 per cent of the potential workforce, yet we only make up to 22 per cent,” she said. “So, it’s really about not only increasing women in the sector, but also retaining and advancing women.” 

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.