Could you work with heavy-duty machinery and solve heavy-duty problems? Then, Boilermaker may be the job for you!
What do I do?
If you choose this career path, you will soon be building, erecting, repairing, testing and maintaining all types of boilers, tanks and pressure vessels. Boilermakers perform structural and plate work on dust, air, gas, steam, oil, water and other liquid-tight pressure vessels.
You fabricate and repair boilers, tanks, heat exchangers, fired heaters, reactors and other pressure vessels.
How do I advance?
Boilermakers often advance to supervisory positions, like foreman or superintendent. Or, with additional training, you can transfer your skills to related occupations, like Ironworker, Structural Steel and Plate Fitter, Welder, Sheet Metal Worker, Machinist, Millwright, Tool and Die Maker or Elevator Constructor.
How much do I make?
Apprentice Boilermakers earn at least 60% of the journeyman wage rate in the first year of their apprenticeship, 75% in the second, and 90% in the third year. Journeyman wage rates vary, but usually range from $24.44 to $26.95 an hour, base wage (figures taken from 1999/2000 wage surveys by Merit Contractors and Construction Labour Relations- Alberta.) In addition to the basic hourly rate employers provide holiday and vacation pay. Employers may also provide other benefits such as group insurance for health, dental and vision care, retirement packages, and training benefits. In total, the value of the benefits can range from 20% to 30% over and above the basic hourly pay rate.
The standard workweek is 40 hours; some overtime is possible.
Where do I go from here?
Boilermakers often go on to positions with more responsibility. You can play a key role in creating industrial plants like pulp mills, mining installations, generating plants, and oil and gas plants.
With Boilermaking under your belt, you can be employed in metal fabricating, shipbuilding, rail transport, petroleum and coal products, working on electric power projects, iron and steel projects, and oil and gas projects.
How do I learn?
You can get a jump start on your future career in construction trades by checking out the Career and Technology Studies - Construction Technology courses offered at high schools. These hands-on courses are designed to help you build the basic skills you will use in the construction industry. For example, you might investigate Basic Tools and Materials CON1010, Oxyacetylene Welding FAB1040 or Metallurgy Fundamentals FAB3020. See your school counsellor for more information.
The Apprenticeship and Industry Training Act of Alberta specifies that Boilermakers must be either a certified journeyman or a registered apprentice.
While youÕre still in high school, you can begin an apprenticeship program and earn high school credits at the same time! This is possible through the Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP). After high school graduation, many RAP apprentices complete apprenticeship programs while working full-time.
To enter the Boilermaker apprenticeship program, you need to have Grade 11 education or equivalent (or pass an entrance exam), and find an appropriate employer who is willing to hire and train an apprentice. Employers generally prefer to hire high school or post-secondary graduates, and may select apprentices from among their current employees. Because the work demands precision and mechanical skills, courses in Math and Science will be helpful.
To register in the apprenticeship program, the apprentice and the employer complete an application form together and submit it to the closest apprenticeship and industry training office. Once the application is approved, a contract is drawn up and signed by the apprentice and the employer.
The term of apprenticeship is three years (three 12-month periods with a minimum of 1500 hours of employment each year). In addition to on-the-job training, the term also requires two six-week blocks of classroom instruction in the first year, and one six-week block in both the second and third years. Applicants who have successfully completed related courses of study or work experience may be eligible for advanced standing in the apprenticeship program.
Classroom training is arranged by Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training and is provided at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton. When apprentices attend training, they are required to pay the applicable tuition fee and purchase course supplies. Most apprentices are eligible for employment insurance (EI) while attending classroom training. For more detailed information, contact your local Human Resources Development Canada office.
Loans and grants are available on a needs-tested basis through Students Finance.
After successfully completing the required exams and working specified hours as an apprentice, you are awarded an Alberta Journeyman Certificate. If you pass an approved interprovincial exam, you qualify for the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal which means your trade qualifications are generally recognized throughout most of Canada.
Check out more info:
For further information on career planning, occupations and educational programs, contact the nearest Career Development Centre or Canada-Alberta Service Centre (see the "Government of Alberta" listings in the telephone directory).
Or, Alberta residents can contact the Career Information Hotline by telephone at
1-800-661-3753 (in Edmonton call 422-4266). Hearing impaired individuals can reach the Hotline by calling 1-800-232-7215 for message relay (in Edmonton call 422-5283).
