29 August 2005
Canadian Pacific Railway Launches Scholarship Program for Women
Canadian Pacific Railway has launched a three-year scholarship initiative for women
attending programs in Conductor training at Canadian colleges partnering with the railway.
"A career with CPR and the rail industry can be very rewarding and exciting as the rail transportation industry continues to make
a significant contribution to Canada's growth as a nation," said CPR's Director of Industrial Relations and Technical Training,
Paul Wajda, who pointed out the company is expected to hire several thousand Running Trades' employees over the course of the next
five years. "At present, we have about 1,200 women employees in Canada with about 200 working in field operations at CPR. We want
to increase this number, particularly for the conductor position, which can lead to other career opportunities - including locomotive
engineer positions."
The programs will feature two scholarships each of $1,000 to women meeting the basic hiring criteria and entering the programs involved
for a total of 10 scholarships a year for the next three years.
"There are great career opportunities for women in our company, including as part of a train crew as a conductor," said Kim
Price, a CPR Conductor and Field Placement Officer. "If someone is committed to the extensive training involved, to working hard
and is prepared to travel, being a conductor is a rewarding and exciting job."
Within Canada, CPR partners with several colleges that offer Conductor training programs. Current partnerships include the following:
- BCIT (Vancouver);
- SAIT (Calgary);
- George Brown College (Toronto);
- College Gerald-Godin (Montreal).
Canadian Pacific Railway has an aggressive recruitment program in place, including a website component www.cpr.ca and www.transpocity.ca,
participating in job fairs at high schools and post secondary institutions and through print advertising.
Wajda noted that as part of its commitment to employment equity the company has recently renewed and increased its Aboriginal
Student Scholarship through the National Aboriginal Foundation to $15,000.
About the Railway Conductor Position
Conductors work as members of train crews. The average salary for this position is approximately $65,000 a year. Conductors are
involved in switching cars, putting together trains in yards or moving cars between yards, sidings or tracks according to
instructions originating with yard and train planners. Locomotive Engineers are hired from the ranks of Railway Conductors. Locomotive
Engineers earn an average salary of about $85,000.
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