Influential women: 14 champions of Canadian construction

SiteNews just unveiled its 2025 list of Construction’s Most Influential People—a celebration of the individuals shaping the future of Canada’s built environment.

It was also a celebration of female construction leaders. While women represent approximately 5% of the construction workers on-site and 12% of the entire workforce, their impact is far bigger. They made up roughly one-third of this year’s list and are responsible for tens of billions of dollars in construction projects. Here are some of the incredible women helping push the industry forward.

Angela Coldwell – Founder, Honour the Work

Angela Coldwell founded Honour the Work to reframe how young Canadians view skilled trades. A former award-winning teacher, she launched the organization to position trades as a first-choice career path. Starting with a pilot in Ontario, it now brings hands-on, curriculum-linked learning to classrooms across Alberta. The program uses STEAMS Kits—hands-on, curriculum-aligned resources integrating science, technology, engineering, math, and skilled trades—to spark interest in trades careers early, addressing the skilled trades labour shortage.

Bowinn Ma – Minister of Infrastructure, Province of BC

Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s first Minister of Infrastructure, blends engineering expertise with policy leadership to drive resilient, inclusive infrastructure. She’s led record investments while advancing climate adaptation, transit-oriented development, and equitable project delivery across the province. Also, Ma is no stranger to construction. She is a licensed professional engineer with a degree in civil engineering, a master’s degree from the UBC Sauder School of Business, and is a certified project-management professional.

Angela Clayton – CEO, Infrastructure Ontario

Angela Clayton leads Infrastructure Ontario’s $100B project portfolio, bringing over 25 years of experience in strategic planning and execution. A CPA and advocate for women in infrastructure, she drives public-private success and contributes widely to industry initiatives. Her work at IO impacts all parts of society. Just this month, it awarded a $14B contract to finance, build and maintain the province’s first women’s and children’s hospital.

Deanna Brown – Principal, Architect, Stantec

As a specialist in healthcare design, Deanna Brown has played an integral role on a range of health and wellness projects across rehabilitation, palliative, seniors’ living, complex continuing, ambulatory, and acute care settings. She’s also been a key contributor to multiple planning design and compliance (PDC) and proponent teams for alternative finance and procurement (AFP) projects. As a Stantec Principal and RAIC Fellow, she mentors emerging architects and champions equity through Women@Stantec while curating healing environments that serve diverse communities.

Irene Kerr – President & CEO, BC Infrastructure Benefits

Irene Kerr leads BCIB, connecting local, diverse trades to major public projects in B.C. Under her leadership, over 5,000 workers—including hundreds of apprentices—have been mobilized. She’s a trusted voice in inclusive labour delivery and advises several workforce-focused boards.  She also serves as a board member for SkillPlan, a nationally recognized leader in workforce development. Irene has been named to Business in Vancouver’s BC500 list three times.

Jen Hancock – VP, Collaborative Construction, Chandos

Jen Hancock is transforming construction culture as VP at Chandos and the Edmonton Construction Association’s first female Board Chair. With nearly 20 years of experience (17 of them at Chandos), she promotes collaborative delivery, sustainability, and mentorship across Alberta’s building sector. Prior to Chandos, Hancock says she was a former teacher working at an engineering firm but was seeking a job where she could be challenged and continue to grow and learn. She applied for an entry-level project assistant position and worked her way up the ladder.

Jennifer Price – CEO, McElhanney

Jennifer Price is CEO of McElhanney Ltd., leading one of Canada’s largest employee-owned engineering firms. With global executive experience and a focus on equity, she drives innovation, strategic growth, and professional development in engineering and geomatics.

Lisa Helps – Executive Lead, BC Builds

Lisa Helps spearheads project origination at BC Builds, helping deliver middle-income housing across B.C. A former mayor of Victoria and housing advisor in the Premier’s Office, she remains focused on inclusive, systems-level urban transformation. BC Builds’ impact has recently spread out east, with Toronto announcing Toronto Builds, a BC Builds-inspired agency to also deliver affordable housing.

Marie-Claude Dumas – President, WSP Canada

Marie-Claude Dumas is part of WSP Canada and serves as the firm’s Global Inclusion and Diversity Leader. A seasoned engineer, she has overseen major infrastructure programs and champions growth through inclusive leadership and strategic innovation. A member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, Ms. Dumas has a proven track record as a global engineering and construction executive with over 20 years of multi-disciplinary management and consulting experience acquired with several multinationals.

Marie-France Venneri – Principal & Director, AME Group

Marie-France Venneri brings 20+ years of engineering expertise to AME Group, helping grow the firm to 200+ professionals. Known for her collaborative leadership on complex projects, she also supports diversity through her past board role with Canadian Construction Women.

Mindy Wight – CEO, Nch’ḵay̓ Development Corporation

Mindy Wight, CPA and Squamish Nation member, leads Nch’ḵay̓ in delivering Indigenous-led development. She’s guiding the Sen̓áḵw project in Vancouver, prioritizing community consultation, Indigenous hiring, and economic self-determination through reconciliation-focused development. The groundbreaking project is being hailed as a model for Indigenous-led economic development and reconciliation.

Nour Hachem – Founder & President, Build a Dream

Nour Hachem founded Build a Dream to break barriers for women and underrepresented youth in trades and STEM. Inspired by her mother’s journey, she now runs a national non-profit delivering hands-on programs and mentorship to thousands across Canada. She believes that limited access to training programs, deeply ingrained societal stereotypes, and pervasive biases within educational and workplace environments create challenges for women in the workplace. The organization has been going strong for more than ten years, working to break these barriers down.

Sabrina Fiorellino – CEO & Co-founder, Fero International

Sabrina Fiorellino transitioned from law to entrepreneurship, scaling a construction firm before co-founding Fero in 2020. Now leading Canada’s largest modular facility, she delivers fast, sustainable solutions in healthcare, housing, and education. She’s always looking for solutions. She became interested in modular construction to address postponed surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her solution was to create modular surgical units to provide relief to families.

Tania Johnston – CEO, Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada

Tania Johnston is the first woman to lead MCAC in its 100+ year history. She’s expanded its reach to 800+ firms and champions workforce development, mental health, and diversity, positioning the sector for a more inclusive future. Previously she served as the Executive Director of the Construction Education Council (CEC), and as Executive Director, Education and Special Projects for MCAC prior to taking on the role of CEO.

Congratulations to all these inspiring women and thank you for the work that you do. To check out our full list of this year’s winners, visit this link.