Welding Techniques Welding and Fabrication Technician
Available as a one- or two-year program
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The precision work of welders and fabricators holds up bridges and delivers miners safely underground. Gain skills in welding, fabrication, detailing and millwrighting that you can use across the country, from coast to coast, in virtually any industry.
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- Candace Cook during class in the welding shop
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- Candace Cook in the Welding Shop
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- Welding Shop
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- Jay Potter during Welding Techniques class
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- Matthew Dey during Welding Techniques class
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- “This is a pretty good profession. It’s awesome what you can do. You fix things to help people, to make them safe.” – Natalie Stallaert, Welding & Fabrication Technician student
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- “I took an ornamental iron design class on a whim in high school, and I fell in love. You don’t have to be an industrial welder. My goal is to have my own shop and sell my art.” Hailey Megraw, Welding & Fabrication Technician student
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- “I entered this program knowing that I’d like it. But once I started doing new things I hadn’t done before, I really took an interest. I love it actually.” – Ian Vasseur-Baril, Welding & Fabrication Technician student
Testimonials
- Credential
One-year Ontario College Certificate (Techniques)
Two-year Ontario College Diploma (Technician)
- Start Date
September and January entry
- Location
Belleville campus
Find your career
As a welder/fabricator technician, you will find job opportunities in any industry where metal fabrication and maintenance are performed. Your new skills can take you anywhere:
- You could work in manufacturing, construction, welding or inspection.
- Fabricate mining equipment; machinery; pipelines; bridge truss systems; vehicles such as subway cars and fire trucks; or shipbuilding and aerospace.
- Average starting salaries range from $40,000 to $44,999*. With experience and government certification, potential earnings increase to $60,000 and more.
- Get an employment edge with certificates you can earn in the program, such as Certified Welder, Structural Steel Plate Fitter, Certified Welding Inspector or Welding Supervisor.
- You could fast track into an apprenticeship.
*Source: Employment Profile Provincial Report, Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
Our grads get great jobs
- Technical Advisor, Voith Hydro Inc.
- Welder, Durose Manufacturing Limited
- Welder/Setter, L-3 Communications
- Welder/Fitter, North American Steel
- Level 2 Welding Inspector, Canadian Welding Bureau
- Thermite Welding, Canadian Pacific Railway
- Production/Welding, Honda Canada
- Welder/Fabricator, Material Handling Systems
- Welder/Fabricator, Timmins Trailers
- Welder/Fabricator, McCloskey International Ltd.
Is it for you?
Welders play an essential role in building and maintaining critical infrastructure. This is a good career for people who:
- Show precision in their work.
- Have solid math skills.
- Take pride in doing things right.
- Would like to master a skill that will be in demand wherever they go.
Experiential learning
Prepare to meet increasingly complex industry standards through hands-on learning in Loyalist’s newly equipped The Bay of Quinte Skills Centre:
- Follow projects from the engineering drawings stage, through cutting and forming processes, to the completion of the job and quality inspection.
- Create with new and evolving technologies such as CNC press brakes, CNC plasma cutting and 3D designing.
- Practise welding techniques such as gas metal arc welding, shielded metal arc welding and gas tungsten arc welding.
- Participate in the Ontario Skills Competition and field trips to the Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show.
- Expand your theoretical and practical skill set, along with in-depth trade practices and job planning skills, in the two-year diploma program.
You can obtain certification with the Canadian Welding Bureau for the following welding certificates in Loyalist’s on-site test centre:
- Gas Metal Arc Welding (G.M.A.W.) Flat Position
- Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Steel (G.T.A.W.) Fillet
- Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Stainless Steel (G.T.A.W.) Fillet
- Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Aluminum (G.T.A.W.) Fillet
- Shielded Metal Arc Welding (S.M.A.W.) Four Positions
- Flux Cored Arc Welding (F.C.A.W.) Flat Position
- Metal Cored Arc Welding (M.C.A.W.) Flat Position
- Welding Inspector Certificate and Welding Supervisor are also offered through the Canadian Welding Bureau Centre for Learning (part of the C.W.B. Group)
Outstanding faculty make the difference
- Learn in bright, well-equipped facilities with dedicated faculty
- Professors include a Red Seal Structural Plate Fitter and proceeding officer with the Canadian Welding Bureau
- Teachers have a vast network of industry contacts to help connect students with jobs
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