Up to 30 per cent of the welding workforce in Canada is set to retire within the next 10 years, according to a spokesperson for the CWB Welding Foundation.
Executive Director Susan Crowley says currently, there’s a lack of qualified welders to fill those roles, “These are professions that support traditional industries, whether they be resources based or shipbuilding, or manufacturing, transportation industries as well as newly emerging industries and in high technology.”
According to the CWB Welding Foundation., there is a reduced focus on skilled trades training in secondary and post-secondary institutions. Recent labour market surveys indicate strong growth for the welding and joining the industry and the entire construction sector over the next decade and beyond.
Crowley says their hope is to attract more young people to the trades industries.
She says the CWB Welding Foundation. has noticed a lack of interest from young people over the past 15 years due to a stigma, “Even though it is a safe job, a fantastic job, lots of opportunities to be mobile and make a good healthy income and really to be self-employed or work in a mid-sized to large-sized company.”
Crowley says traditionally welding wasn’t a profession that women would consider, but they have seen more interest, “That’s something we are really excited about as well. We are really trying to increase equity across our workforce and increase diversity across our workforce.”
A new mobile welding program was introduced this week, that will help expose more high school students in New Brunswick to the industry.
Construction on a mobile trailer will begin in the spring of 2021 with work continuing through the summer.
The trailer is expected to be ready for use in September 2021.
It will be able to accommodate 16 students with eight welding booths plus a grinding and cutting station as well as a weld testing area.
The trailer will be moved between schools, both urban and rural, that lack appropriate facilities to deliver welding courses.
“Part of our mandate is to reduce barriers to welding education for Canadian students, and this portable welding trailer will allow students who might not have had the opportunity to experience welding for themselves,” says Crowley. “Welding is a gateway to endless opportunities in the skilled trades and STEM careers. Thanks to the contributions and leadership of our partners at the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, OSCO and Source Atlantic, young people will be able to explore welding and see where it can take them in their careers and in life.”
Students who use the trailer will benefit from online curriculum and industry-standard teacher training delivered through the CWB Welding Foundation.
In addition to welding instruction, students will learn about apprenticeship pathways and career opportunities in welding and related trades and professions.
