OTTAWA — If the ratings of the TV show Ice Road Truckers are anything to go by, people like seeing a lady behind the wheel of a big rig.

Season three of History Television’s top-rated series featured a couple of new faces in the cast of truckers, one being 28-year-old Lisa Kelly.

When that season premiered in Canada on March 31, it became the most-watched episode of all time, hauling-in more than half a million viewers on a Wednesday night. It was actually the highest audience ever for a series on History Television.

But there are plenty of other female truckers across Canada and later this fall they’d love to have your attention too.

Right across Canada, women truckers will be getting into their rigs and rolling out in a convoy to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research, through the annual Convoy for a Cure events.

According to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, on average, 445 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every week, an increase of nine women per week from 2009.

Last October, the second annual Convoy for a Cure was held in eastern Ontario, as 40 female truckers paraded down Highway 401 between Cornwall and Cardinal.

First-time Convoy for a Cure events were also held in Alberta and New Brunswick last year, and together the three campaigns raised more than $80,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

The convoys of female truckers are ready to roll again this fall, including a new event in western Ontario:

Sept. 25: Alberta Convoy for a Cure in Nisku, Alta. at Blackjacks Roadhouse and Casino – convoyforacure-ab@live.ca or 780-297-0490

Oct. 2: Ontario East from Cornwall, Ont. to Cardinal, Ont. – convoyforacure@live.ca

Oct. 2: Ontario West from Dorchester, Ont. to Woodstock, Ont. – convoyforacure-ont.west@live.ca or 613-498-9064

Oct. 9: Convoy for a Cure-Atlantic Canada from Salisbury, N.B. to Aulac, N.B. – convoyforacure-atlantic@live.ca or 506-622-7466

Of course you don’t have to be a female trucker to get involved. Some of the Convoy for a Cure events will have a secondary convoy for male truckers, and there are other opportunities to volunteer and make the day’s event a success.

The CBCF is divided into four regions: Atlantic, B.C./Yukon, Prairies/NWT, and Ontario. Money raised through the convoys will stay within the host region.

Funding for research is more important than ever.

Thanks to increased awareness like this, the cancer rate is currently the lowest it has been since 1950.

But more can be done, and there’s hardly a better way to do it than in a convoy.