Meet Lieutenant-Commander Kayla Bouchard!

Lieutenant- Commander Kayla Bouchard is a Marine Systems Engineering Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. She joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2006 at the age of 17 where she studied Chemical Engineer at the Royal Military College of Canada. She has participated in Operation CARIBBE and Operation Projection. The highlight of her career was being the Head of the Marine Systems Engineering Department onboard HMCS VANCOUVER.

As the Head of Marine Systems Engineering Department onboard HMCS VANCOUVER, the LCdr was managing 55 people who were working as Marine technicians or firefighters. LCdr Bouchard and her team were in charge of making sure the ship is able to astern in the water and making sure lights and the sewage system onboard are working effectively.

In the technical trades, and more specifically amongst Marine system engineers, the number of women employed is increasing. Not just as women in technical trades, but the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has more than 50% women in heads of departments. The end goal is to still see more women in technical trades and to achieve this, the military and specifically the RCN must recruit efficiently and expose women to the endless opportunities in tech trades the RCN has available. This can be achieved by tours of training facilities, ship viewings, and conversations with women in the Canadian Armed Forces.