Update Concerning COVID-19

The well-being of our employees, clients, and students is of the utmost importance to us. As we continue to monitor and respond to the changing situation regarding the outbreak, we have implemented additional protocols to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 in our organization and its stakeholders.

We understand that the current situation has caused a great deal of unrest, and we appreciate the patience and perseverance of the community as we work through this in coordination with the different levels of government. CWB Group continues to comply with the recommendations of the Government of Canada, and our services, like many others, are being impacted by this rapidly evolving situation. We are committed to working with our stakeholders to reschedule activities and make alternative plans to minimize the impact on their organizations. To keep you informed and answer any questions that you may have, CWB Management has implemented the following flexible options for each business unit to streamline operations while we work through this crisis together.

The CWB Group recognizes that some provinces have implemented restrictions that require “non-essential workplaces” to cease operations for several weeks, and that what is defined as an “essential workplace” varies in different provinces. CWB Group provides services to a broad spectrum of clients, some of which are deemed “essential workplaces” and some of which are not. The CWB Group fully supports any provincial government restrictions, and will only provide our services to those clients that have been deemed as essential workplaces in those provinces so that they can access our services as required to maintain their business operations.

As a result of these increased restrictions and continued uncertainty about the duration of this event, we have updated our COVID-19 response protocols as follows.

CWB Group Offices

(Updated June 29, 2020) CWB Group would like to announce the reopening of three of our office locations. The training facility in Alberta (Nisku) will reopen as of May 19th and our Quebec (Laval) office will reopen on May 25th. Our head office in Milton – including our training facility – will reopen as of June 29th.

CWB Certification

At this time, CWB continues to deliver auditing and testing services to our clients who have been designated as essential workplaces or as requested in jurisdictions with no restrictions, except where government travel restrictions prevent us from doing so.   

We recognize that some clients have imposed visitor restrictions for their facilities, and the CWB will adhere to these restrictions as requested. If clients wish to reschedule any service appointments to a later date, they may do so by contacting their Certification Service Representative.   The CWB will not impose any cancellation charges for any canceled or rescheduled appointments due to the COVID-19 situations.

The CWB has directed our staff to follow the social distancing and enhanced hygiene protocols suggested by Canada’s health agencies. This includes social distancing (maintaining a distance of > 2m from others) and regular handwashing. Our CSRs may also choose to wear masks or gloves while conducting their work.  We ask for the understanding and assistance of all clients to follow social distancing and enhanced hygiene practices to keep all of our workers safe. To ensure their safety, we have also instructed our staff not to test individuals that display flu-like symptoms.

For welder qualification testing, CWB continues to provide onsite welder testing at its client facilities, including those for Accredited Test Centres and Union Test Centres. If your normal testing location is not available or has been closed, a full listing of Accredited Test Centres can be found on the CWB Group website.    

(Updated – January 13, 2021) Examination services have been resumed in our Nisku, AB and Laval, QC locations effective May 19 and May 25 respectively.  Examination services at our Milton, ON office, will be transitioned to the online ProctorU system, with certain exceptions for essential personnel. Please call 1-800-844-6790 for updates on examination services at all other locations.

As previously communicated, please note the following services are not currently impacted:

  • Welding procedures can continue to be submitted to CWB via email. Our Procedure Engineers continue to provide full service and are available via telephone and email.
  • Letters of validation continue to be processed and distributed as normal. Clients are encouraged to use our client portal to access copies of their Letter of Validation and other certification documents and to view statements
  • Certified Welding Inspector applications and renewals continue to be processed as normal.
  • Our laboratories continue to evaluate welder qualification test plates received at our facilities
  • New welder qualifications (tickets) continue to be produced and sent to clients.  Clients are reminded that the electronic tickets provided on the “Test Session Summary Report” that is provided by CWB when plates are evaluated are valid and acceptable proof of qualification

Click here to see withdrawn extensions from 2020.

CWB Education 

(Updated – January 13, 2021) Check our current course listings to see if you're in-class course is still available. Individuals who have previously registered for a course may:

  • Call us at 1-800-844-6790 and transfer your course to a later day. There is no fee to transfer your course. If you wish to cancel your course, you may reschedule anytime within a year from your cancellation date
  • Transfer to an online course for Welding Inspector Level 1, Welding Supervisor Steel, and Welding Supervisor Aluminum (please note that online courses are only available in English)
  • Due to COVID-19, we are temporarily not offering coffee or water during our classroom courses.
  • In Ontario CWB Education courses, Welding Supervisor Steel and Level 1 Program, will be transitioned to online learning, with students being presented with the option of postponement until the stay-at-home order is lifted.
  • In-class delivery of the WEST program will be transitioned to online learning with hands-on portions of the program postponed until the restrictions are lifted.

CWB Association

As already communicated, this year’s Educators Conference has been postponed and we will look to host online events starting this fall to support our education partners. In addition, all CWB Association Chapter events have been cancelled until further notice. The CWB Association will continue to support the industry through the ongoing publication of industry information and government initiatives to support individuals and businesses.

CWB Consulting

We are still available via phone and email, should you need to contact us. We will continue to perform Retained visits at your facility but as an alternative, to help to stop the spread of the virus, we can perform this service via telephone or Skype meeting and will email reports to you in a timely fashion.  If your province has deemed that non-essential businesses must close, then we can only perform visits via Skype or teleconference.
    
If you require an essential facility visit during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will practice social distancing and take all reasonable safety protocol, as outlined by local Public Health departments. We are committed to maintaining service to you throughout this pandemic while observing the highest level of precaution.

CWB Registration

CWB Registration will continue to deliver auditing services to customers as requested except when government travel restrictions prevent us from doing so. We also recognize that many clients have imposed visitor restrictions for their facilities and the CWB Group will adhere to these restrictions as requested. Below, we have highlighted the options available to our clients as we work through this crisis together:

  • If you wish to reschedule any service appointments to a later date, you can do so by communicating with us at registration@cwbgroup.org
  • CWB Registration can provide partial to potentially full audits via remote/virtual settings which can be discussed further with your assigned auditor
  • The CWB Group will not impose any cancellation charges for canceled or rescheduled appointments to the growing concern around the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Following the guidelines announced by the Government of Canada, all clients that have traveled outside of the country must self-isolate for 14 days. If you have traveled during this period, you will be required to reschedule your audit

CWB Welding Foundation

The CWB Welding Foundation continues to partner with education, industry and other stakeholders to raise awareness and support welding education across Canada. All Foundation staff are working from their home offices and are responding to all inquiries, via email or phone, on a timely basis. Our program line-up for 2021 is being reviewed, and updates will be shared on the Foundation website as we know more.

The CWB Group is taking extensive and appropriate measures to ensure the safety of our staff and our clients. We continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly. The situation is unfolding, and changes daily, and CWB Group’s protocol will change as needed.   We realize the current state of global events has been disruptive to each of us, but these are unprecedented times, and we appreciate your trust and understanding. We will continue to provide the superior level of service that you have come to expect from our organization.

The CWB Group would also like to take this opportunity to again recognize the devotion of healthcare workers, front-line staff at grocery stores and pharmacies, construction trades, and all essential workers for their hard work and resilience to keep our communities functioning. We encourage everyone to take care of themselves and their communities, and we are confident that we will come out of this stronger and unified.