Printable version

Welders and Related Machine Operators (7265)

Occupation targeted under the Workplace Apprenticeship Program

  • Please note that detailed information for each of the occupations under the Workplace Apprenticeship Program is only available in French.
  • Welder
  • Welder-fitter

Among the occupations currently in highest demand in All of Québec

Occupation with high worker turnover

The English text is currently unavailable. Please refer to the French text below.

Qualification and skills most often required

Le diplôme d’études professionnelles (DEP) en soudage-montage est demandé. L’attestation de spécialisation professionnelle (ASP) en soudage haute pression peut être requise pour certains emplois. Le Programme d’apprentissage en milieu de travail d’Emploi-Québec constitue aussi un moyen de se qualifier en emploi dans cette profession. Un certificat de qualification délivré par Emploi-Québec est requis pour travailler comme soudeur ou soudeuse haute pression au Québec. Certaines entreprises peuvent exiger la certification du Bureau canadien de soudage (Canadian Welding Bureau), qui est obligatoire dans la fabrication de structures en acier. La connaissance des différents procédés de soudage, notamment les procédés semi-automatiques GMAW et FCAW, le procédé TIG (tungsten inert gas), le soudage à l’arc électrique avec électrode enrobée (SMAW) et le soudage à l’arc sous gaz avec électrode fusible (MIG), ainsi que des aptitudes pour travailler l’acier inoxydable et l’aluminium sont recherchées selon le secteur d’activité. Des connaissances en lecture de plans favorisent l’accès à un emploi. L’expérience peut être exigée.

Reason for labor demand

La demande vient surtout des entreprises du secteur de la fabrication des produits métalliques, de la première transformation des métaux, des machines, du matériel de transport, des ateliers d’usinage, de la construction ainsi que de l’industrie éolienne. Des difficultés de recrutement sont engendrées par le manque de main-d’œuvre possédant l’expérience et les compétences recherchées par les employeurs ainsi que par le nombre insuffisant de personnes diplômées. La demande s’explique aussi par le roulement de la main-d’œuvre.

View job offers on Online Placement

Job titles

Nature of work

Welders operate welding equipment to weld ferrous and non-ferrous metals. This unit group also includes machine operators who operate previously set up production welding, brazing and soldering equipment. They are employed by companies that manufacture structural steel and platework, boilers, heavy machinery, aircraft and ships and other metal products, and by welding contractors and welding shops, or they may be self-employed.

Fields of interest

  • Making or building things, constructing, doing repairs, and performing installations
  • Working with your hands

Main duties

  • Welders perform some or all of the following duties:
  • - Read and interpret blueprints or welding process specifications
  • - Operate manual or semi-automatic welding equipment to fuse metal segments using processes such as gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), flux-cored arc welding (FCAW), plasma arc welding (PAW), shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), oxy-acetylene welding (OAW), resistance welding and submerged arc welding (SAW)
  • - Operate manual or semi-automatic flame-cutting equipment
  • - Operate brazing and soldering equipment
  • - Operate metal shaping machines such as brakes, shears and other metal straightening and bending machines
  • - Repair worn parts of metal products by welding on extra layers.
  • Welding, brazing and soldering machine operators perform some or all of the following duties:
  • - Operate previously set up welding machines such as spot, butt and seam resistance or gas and arc welding machines to fabricate or repair metal parts
  • - Operate previously set up brazing or soldering machines to bond metal parts or to fill holes, indentations and seams of metal articles with solder
  • - Start up, shut down, adjust and monitor robotic welding production line
  • - Assist with the maintenance and repair of welding, brazing and soldering equipment
  • - May adjust welding heads and tooling according to work specifications.
  • * Welders may specialize in certain types of welding such as custom fabrication, ship building and repair, aerospace precision welding, pressure vessel welding, pipeline construction welding, structural construction welding, or machinery and equipment repair welding.

Employment requirements

  • * Welders
  • * Completion of secondary school is usually required.
  • * Completion of a three-year apprenticeship program orA combination of over three years of work experience in the trade and some college or industry courses in welding is usually required to be eligible for trade certification.
  • * Trade certification is compulsory in Alberta and available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
  • * Interprovincial trade certification (Red Seal) is also available to qualified welders.
  • * Welding, brazing and soldering machine operators
  • * Some secondary school education is required.
  • * Several months of on-the-job training are usually provided.
  • * Experience as a machine operator helper may be required.
  • * Experience with robotics may be required.

More information in All of Québec

Employment in 2011 21,000
Skill level Technical
Average annual full-time income in 2005 39,000$
Job prospects-by occupation (2012-2016) Fair
Unemployment rate in 2011 High