Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada — It is extremely critical for welders on Alberta oil sands projects to be able to show and maintain certification.

In Alberta, welding is a "compulsory" trade — to practice welding, one must be either an indentured apprentice or an Alberta-certified journeyman. Workers from other provinces must have a "Red Seal" endorsement on the Certificates of Qualification and Apprenticeship they carry. The Red Seal Program involves an Interprovincial Standards Examination, and allows qualified tradespersons — such as welders — to practice their trade in any province or territory in Canada in which the trade is designated without having to write further examinations.

Alberta trains the majority of trades apprentices that enter the Canadian workforce and the Northern Albertan Institute of Technology has its main campus in Edmonton. The Institute of Technology's welding program offers courses that range from basic stick, MIG and TIG, to training for weld inspection and supervision.

The community college in Fort McMurray, Kenyano College, also has a curriculum for welding apprenticeship, and that has attracted young people recently out of high school as well as adults who are looking for a career change.

Once that basic training is accomplished, trade union halls provide a great deal of additional training support, says Barry Pruden, a business representative with the Plumbers & Pipe Fitters Local Union 488. The union operates a training facility in Edmonton that has 20 booths in its welding shop, an adjoining rigging facility, and maintains a mobile training facility in Fort McMurray.

Additionally, the union has a starter program in "Pipe Trades Orientation" that is designed primarily for people who are than 20 years old and who want to get into the trade, but have little or no experience. That 10-week program covers the basics of blueprint reading, rigging, soldering and brazing, welding, cutting, and working with small hand tools and lifting equipment. Students who complete the course successfully receive 12 high school credits in Career & Technology Studies, and a fast track into an apprenticeship program. "Their commitment is that they put in 300 hours, which will be assigned to their apprenticeship when they're signed up," Pruden says. "The union provides the facilities, the materials and the trainers." Trainers have included superintendents, fabrication shop managers, and one of the best-respected riggers in the region, Pruden adds.

Local 488 also shares in guaranteeing that a welder's certifications are maintained and up-to-date, and provides the necessary classes to that end. In Fort McMurray, hiring a welder with a union card means that person is certified to perform the job.

Industry leaders are hopeful that the current generation may get beyond the idea that being a construction worker may not be an actual, viable or acceptable choice of vocation. The schools and the unions are emphasizing that a trade always provides opportunities and incomes, and even allows for students to continue their education to become engineers. By having trade experience, they gain hands-on training that provides a base for greater opportunities in future.