It gave me the foundation to progress my skills and competency in the trade.
L-146’s Riley McElroy practices welding.
In 2021, the Boilermakers, in partnership with CWB Welding Foundation and the CWB Group, applied for and received a multi-million dollar grant from the federal governments Union Training and Innovation Program (UTIP) to create and operate the Filling the Gap Pressure Welding Training program for five years. The Canadian government recognized the need for highly trained pressure welders across the country and knew that funding this program would be the most effective way to ensure that need could be met. Boilermakers have always held a firm commitment to continuous improvement, and the success of this program shows exactly why the union continues to lead the industry.
After three years of operation, it’s clear that not only is the program successful at developing the pressure welding skills of Canadian tradespeople, but Filling the Gap is also helping ensure there are enough highly skilled pressure welders to keep Canada’s industry growth moving forward.
The program’s training sessions span eight weeks, and there were 36 sessions held across Canada in the first three years, with a total of 306 participants and a 92% completion rate. Almost all program graduates, 96%, were employed immediately after completing the program, and every one of them obtained their industry-required safety certifications.
Participants in the program included both apprentices (51%) and journeypersons (49%), demonstrating the commitment to continued learning. Notably, 32% of the program graduates came from groups traditionally underrepresented in industry, such as Indigenous Peoples, women, new Canadians, visible minorities and people with disability. This increase in workforce diversity can only benefit industry and communities by providing a larger potential workforce from which to draw, and by encouraging a broader range of perspectives to participate in the planning, construction, maintenance, and operation of Canada’s power plants, refineries and other sources of energy, innovation and growth.
Riley McElroy had worked in industry for two years when she signed up for the Filling the Gap program through Local 146 in Calgary, Alberta, in 2023.
“As an apprentice we don't get much welding time in the field. Being able to spend all day welding under guided supervision was an asset,” McElroy said, “It gave me the foundation to progress my skills and competency in the trade. Through this course I was able to obtain the necessary skills to successfully pass my B pressure test with ease when I became a journeyman.”
A little over a year after graduating from the Filling the Gap program, McElroy is a Red Seal, B pressure welder working shutdown at the Suncor Base Plant in Fort McMurray. She is one of the stainless steel welders for the PSC (primary separation cell) in extractions and loving her work.
In 2022, Nathan Rudderham attended the first Filling the Gap program offered through Local 555 in Regina, Saskatchewan. Rudderham has been welding since 2018, and upon completion of the program, he earned every ticket—F3/F4 up to the Inconel TIG/stick.
According to Rudderham, “Inconel isn't a ticket a lot of people carry, so I've been called for jobs just because I have that ticket as well.”
The structure of the program facilitated his learning.
“Once you get your Red Seal, it can be hard to get booth time to practice and get ticketed in between periods of work,” he said. “This was the issue I had; I was often busy with jobs, so finding time to get to the hall to ticket up was very difficult. Being subsidized on top of that, as well as the hall allowing the time off for the program, made it a very easy process.”
Today, Rudderham works at Poplar River Power Station in Coronach located in southern Saskatchewan, near the Canada and U.S. border, putting his advanced training to use welding tubes, doing pad welds and shielding.
The need for pressure welders across Canada is showing no signs of slowing down, and the Boilermakers are in the position to lead the way in providing the skilled labor to industry that is required.
For more information visit: https://pressureweldertraining.com
Filling the Gap: By the numbers
36 - number of eight-week sessions in the first three years
306 - total participants
92% - completion rate
96% - program graduates immediately employed
100% - graduates who obtained required safety certifications
51% - apprentices
49% - journeypersons
32% - people traditionally underrepresented in the industry
