Brantford, Ont. city employee wins Miss Canada crown

A Brantford, Ont. employee is taking on the title of Miss Canada 2023, but it’s not just about the glitz and glam.

Ashley Borzellino, 25, plans to use her platform to encourage more women to beat gender norms and push societal boundaries.

Borzellino says she never saw herself as a pageant queen but this spring, she earned the crown winning Miss Canada 2023.

“Yeah, I was in complete disbelief. I was really proud of myself,” Borzellino told CTV News. “I felt like I froze for a moment in time and I didn’t want to move from where I was.”

Ashley Borzellino poses in front of Brantford City Hall. (CTV News/Hannah Schmidt)Borzellino is a City of Brantford employee and took home the bejeweled crown in May after competing in a four-day beauty pageant in Quebec.

“We arrive three days earlier before the pageant event and that kind of gives us an opportunity to get to know all the other candidates, make some friends and really enjoy yourself,” she said.

Now she’s using her pageant platform as a way to inspire others to take on new challenges.

“For any position, any occupation, you can do things that are a little bit different…and it all starts from doing something a little bit different before it becomes the norm,” she said.

Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis poses with Miss Canada Ashley Borzellino, who works in the city's development engineering department. (Hannah Scmidt/CTV Kitchener)

“I think it really speaks to what Ashley represents and what she wishes to inspire which is no matter what your gender [or] your background, it’s important you move through life to explore new opportunities and move outside the comfort zone,” Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis said.

Borzellino is a development inspector/operator for the City of Brantford’s development engineering department. She said it was always her goal to succeed in the field of engineering.

“So actually, I was the first of my family to join this path and it was something new to myself and the rest of my family members and I promised myself if I excelled and I did well, I would just keep going,” Borzellino said.

As a member of the Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Committee, she hopes to share her experience and help other women step out of their comfort zone to take on new roles in STEM.

Ashley Borzellino said it was always her goal to succeed in the field of engineering. (CTV News/Hannah Schmidt)

“I just really want to be an example that you can be feminine, you can be a woman and you can be in this industry, you don’t have to fit a particular stereotype or appearance to be successful,” she said.

According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, women make up less than one quarter of the people employed in STEM careers and less than one fifth of the nuclear sector’s workforce. Borzellino is wanting to see those numbers change.

“I realize there’s not a lot of women in this line of work, in this industry, and I feel it’s very important especially in 2023,” she explained. “We’ve come so far and to see the numbers still be so low, it’s kind of heartbreaking.”

As for what’s next for Miss Canada, Borzellino plans to share her experience with women of what it’s like to work in a male-dominated field and inspire them to try pageantry themselves by speaking at events in the city and beyond.

“Sometimes in life you feel doubts in yourself, just remind yourself the reason why you started it and just to keep going and eventually you’ll get there. The journey isn’t always a straight path,” she said.

(Hannah Schmidt/CTV Kitchener)