A world of opportunity in welding - CWB Podcast Forum Highlights Part 1

Welding is an in-demand trade that provides plenty of opportunities for people to grow and develop their careers – and to give back to support future generations of welders. That’s one of the key themes in a recent panel discussion, hosted by the CWB Association Toronto Chapter to explore the diverse career paths available in the welding industry in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The panel was supported by Ironworkers Local 721, CWB Association, and generous event sponsors. Attendees included welding professionals, students, apprentices, inspectors, engineers, and suppliers. Max Ceron, the Director of the CWB Association, moderated the panel and led a lively conversation with three industry leaders: Chris Rebelo, Welding Instructor at Ironworkers Local 721; Ryan Walters, Welding Engineering Specialist; and Victor Andrisani, Manager at CWB Consulting.

“Welding is a huge world,” said Max as he kicked off the event. The speakers went on to illustrate this fact by talking about how they entered the world of welding. Each personal journey featured a unique path, but the common thread was how vast and diverse the opportunities are.

The job stability in the GTA was the focus of the conversation. To set the stage, Max shared some statistics about welding career opportunities in the region.

“Today in the job bank, there’s over 200 welding jobs in the GTA right now, that you can go apply for, and 74 of those jobs are looking for less than one year of experience.” Max emphasized that a career in welding or another trade brings solid financial rewards, especially in light of today’s financial pressures. “Everyone here in this room is on the right track,” he said. “These trades are going to be able to support you and your family.”

Demand for welders remains high in the GTA. Chris pointed out that the current focus on increasing housing stock in the area will have a compounding effect. “We start looking at residential housing, and then we started looking at the infrastructure. We have to increase our services, increase our sewers, increase our hydro, everything that's coming in to handle these people. Then comes more infrastructure projects, subways, highways, tunnels, all these things to help move people around.” From housing and infrastructure to power to electric vehicles, these multi-year projects depend on tradespeople.

Looking more closely at the energy sector, Ryan says it’s an exciting time in Ontario. “It’s a phenomenal place to be right now and for the next 15 years, even beyond that. The investments are going to be staggering for a long period of time. It’s a great place where [tradespeople] are going to have opportunities to grow into supervision, grow your skills, your capabilities.”

Max pointed out that welding is everywhere. “You can literally stand anywhere, at any given time and look around you – there’s welding,” said Max. “The towers that get the signal to our phones, the buildings we’re in, the water pipes, the plumbing, everything around us has some connection to the welding industry.” The ubiquity of welding is what will continue to drive demand for skilled workers.

With all the opportunity, and knowing that the industry continues to face a labour shortage, what obstacles are preventing youth from pursuing or developing a career in the skilled trades? For Ryan, the obstacles can be personal. “I think the only person that’s holding you back is yourself,” he said. With so many opportunities and places to go for support, young people need to be willing to explore and put themselves out there. “That’s really you in your own head saying, I can’t do it. But you can, if you believe in yourself.”

External obstacles to entering the skilled trades crop up at home and in the classroom. Ryan remembers attending wood shop and automotive throughout middle school, but that “there’s been a steady decline.” Ontario is still feeling the effects of under-investment in trades classes elementary and secondary schools. This, along with greater historical emphasis on university, led to declining attendance in trades programs and elimination of some vocational programs entirely. Recently, the federal and provincial governments have announced new funding support for trades programs, but the lag will take time and additional investment to correct.

It doesn’t help that many parents still buy into and communicate a bias against the trades. Ryan continued, “If your parents are both university professors or doctors or lawyers, what is the likelihood that you are actually going to be a welder?”

Mentorship can help fight that bias. The speakers all credited their success to the guidance and support they received from experienced professionals early in their careers. They also agreed that those with established careers have a responsibility to support the next generation of tradespeople. As Chris said, “Give people opportunities. Help someone else out if they don’t know what they want to be. Mentor-mentee relationships help.”

Mentorship also helps the mentor. “I think it’s truly one of the most rewarding things, to help somebody through their career,” said Ryan. “The lasting relationships and friendships that you get out of helping people and mentoring people and showing them the right path, it's just invaluable. And it’s exactly what we need to do in the industry.”

Victor also acknowledged the impact of mentorship. “I manage a team of welding technologists and welding engineers. What a lot of it is, is mentorship.” He said he had been fortunate in his own career to have a lot of good mentors, and he too feels the need to pay it forward. “My favourite part is mentoring my staff, because someone took the time to do that with me. The way to pay them back is I have to pass that along.”

In response to a question from the audience about where the opportunities are, Max said, “If anyone in this group is looking to be a teacher, put yourself down that path. Put yourself down that path, because there are so many opening for teachers across Canada right now, and we’re struggling to find young people to come in and teach…

When I became a teacher, I felt like I was actively – day in, day out – putting my effort into making the next generation stronger.”

Read part 2 of the 2024 CWB Podcast Forum Highlights series here: https://www.cwbgroup.org/association/insights/strengthening-welding-indu...

To hear more from the panel about supporting the welders and skilled tradespeople of the future, check out the full recording here.

The CWB Association is a not-for-profit division of the CWB Group, mandated to promote and support the welding and joining industry in Canada. The CWB Association is represented throughout Canada by a loyal and diverse Chapter membership of more than 70,000 professionals and companies. By joining industry, communities, educators, and professionals, the CWB Association creates strong connections in support of a strong industry. Membership is free, and offers a full suite of amazing benefits. Learn more: CWB Association.