Measure twice: Getting the welder workforce numbers right

It’s a lesson every skilled tradesperson learns early: measure twice, cut once.

Getting the details right at the beginning helps ensure everything that happens afterwards is accurate and reliable. We should bring that same discipline to workforce planning.

Every so often, a statistic gets repeated so many times that we stop questioning where it came from or if it’s correct. It appears in articles, gets reported in the media, and gets shared on social media until it simply becomes accepted as fact.

One example I see continuing to circulate is the claim that the average welder is 55 years old and the trade is quickly aging out of existence.

That 55 is a memorable number. The problem is it isn’t accurate. And yet we continue to use it for workforce planning. That’s like laying out an entire project using the wrong reference point.

So, where did the number come from?

The claim that 55 is the average age of the welder appears to trace back to a publication from an industry group in the United States in the early 2010s. The figure was based on employment data from a study of a small number of fabrication companies in a specific region of the US.

This study might have provided a useful snapshot of those particular companies, but it wasn’t a large or representative enough sample to come close to identifying the actual age of the welding workforce across Canada or the US.

Still, the number caught on. It supported a simple and compelling story—that welders are getting older, retirements are coming, and the trade is in trouble. It was repeated often enough that, over time, few people stopped to ask whether it was actually supported by any national labour data.

When we look at the broader numbers, a different picture emerges.

According to Statistics Canada, the average age of welders and related machine operators was 39.2 in 2025. Across the entire 2016-2025 period, the average age was 40.0. That’s actually slightly younger than the average across all occupations, which was 41.3. Nearly half of Canadian welders (49.1%), are between the ages of 25 and 44.

The American data tell a similar story. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median age for welding, soldering, and brazing workers was 39.3 in 2025, with 47.3% of the workforce between 25 and 44. That’s a nearly identical profile to what Statistics Canada reports. Just 16.8% were between 55 and 64, representing a modest slice of the workforce versus the majority the old statistic implies.

That sounds more like a workforce in its prime than one that is about to disappear.

The workforce challenge is still real

Getting the “average age” statistic right doesn’t mean we should ignore the workforce pressures facing the industry. Workers aged 45 and older represent 36% of the welding workforce, while 16.8% are 55 or older. Many of those experienced workers will retire over the next decade, and replacing their knowledge and experience will require thoughtful planning and investment.

We still need to attract people to welding, improve apprenticeship completion, support career development, and make sure experienced knowledge is passed along to the next generation.

The challenge is real; it’s just different from the one suggested by the “55-year-old welder” statistic. Getting clear, accurate information is the first step in understanding the problem we’re trying to solve, so we can make better decisions.

The consequences of not measuring twice

A welder who skips the second measurement may not discover the mistake until the material has already been cut. Workforce planning can work the same way.

Governments, employers, and educators all rely on workforce information when deciding where to invest. Funding programs, recruitment campaigns, and training initiatives can all be influenced by the way an industry’s challenges are described.

The intention behind those decisions is usually good. But when the original measurement hasn’t been verified, we risk designing programs around a problem that has been misunderstood.

We may create messaging around a massive and immediate retirement wave, when the real challenge is actually more gradual. We may focus too heavily on bringing new people into the trade without giving enough attention to apprenticeship completion (which we know to be a challenge—welding apprenticeship certificate completions declined from 2,502 in 2015 to 1,029 in 2024). We may focus so much on the number of workers without giving due consideration to career progression, retention, mentorship, or knowledge transfer.

There is also the issue of credibility. Our industry spends a lot of time encouraging young people to see welding as the gateway to a strong, modern, and rewarding career. That message becomes harder to trust when it’s paired with a statistic that doesn’t accurately reflect who is working in the trade today.

Measuring for what comes next

The accurate numbers give us a much clearer picture. Canada’s welding workforce is mature and aging along with the rest of the population. At the same time, welding has a strong base of workers in their prime working years and a clearly defined segment that will approach retirement over the next decade.

We need to keep building the pipeline of new welders, help apprentices successfully complete their training, support the career growth of those already in the trade, and prepare for the retirements we know are coming.

Most importantly, we need to make those decisions using reliable information.

The CWB Group’s 2026 Welding Industry Report will be published later this fall, and will provide a detailed picture of Canada’s welding and materials joining sector, including its demographics, workforce trends, and regional differences.

As the industry takes action to address the real challenges we’re facing, let’s apply one of our most fundamental lessons to workforce planning: measure twice before we make the cut.

Trent Konrad, Vice President, Business Development, CWB Group