Boilermaker

Boilermakers are attentive and precise tradespeople who create and maintain the structures that heat, store and transfer essential resources. They possess a wide range of skills to fit a unique role. 

As a Boilermaker you’ll make, test and repair a wide range of items—from boilers to vessels, heat exchangers and other heavy-metal structures.  

You’ll bring a diverse skillset to each task, as you weld, fit, repair and install boilers and other products. This will require you to draw on your precise nature, strong math skills and creativity as you work out blueprints and specifications.  

What You'll Learn

  • How to read blueprints and specifications
  • How to lay out and mark bending and cutting lines on plate and sheet steel
  • How to set up heavy metal working machines
  • How to fit and weld metal parts
  • How to erect, install and repair boilers and other products  

Key Job Skills

  • Critical thinking
  • Problem solving
  • Metal fabrication
  • Boiler construction, installation and repairs
  • Equipment operation 

Technical Training

To get certified, you will need to sign up for technical training at an approved training provider in addition to on-the-job training. 

Visit Trades Training BC and EducationPlannerBC for a comprehensive list of what programs are available in your trade at public and non-public schools. 

Technical Training 15 weeks over 3 years
Work-Based Training
4950 HOURS
General Skills
Athletic Collaborative Mathematical Precise Tactile

Program Updates

  • September 2025: OPSN 2025 020 (Revised Program Outline and Profile effective April 1, 2026. For implementation details, please refer to the Implementation plan attached to the OPSN.)
  • OPSN Archives

Program Information and Resources

Effective April 1, 2026

Program Profile

Occupational Description

“Boilermaker” is a tradesperson who must possess the full range of knowledge, abilities and skills required to fabricate, construct, install, assemble, erect, demolish, repair and maintain a wide variety of vessels, tanks, towers, boilers, hoists and other structures, ancillary equipment and fixtures made of steel, other metals, fibreglass, and other materials. The broad scope of the boilermaker trade includes the construction and maintenance activities performed in the field and in industrial and commercial plants such as: cement plants, fertilizer plants, water treatment facilities, breweries, sawmills, iron and steel production facilities, steam generation plants, electric power generation (thermal, nuclear, hydro) plants, gas turbines, refineries (oil, chemical), shipbuilding and repair docks, pulp and paper mills, wind and fusion sites, and many other industrial and commercial facilities

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Program Information and Resources

Effective until March 31, 2026

Program Profile

Occupational Description

Boilermakers possess the full range of knowledge, abilities and skills required to fabricate, construct, install, assemble, erect, demolish, repair and maintain a wide variety of vessels, tanks, towers, boilers, hoists and other structures, ancillary equipment & fixtures made of steel, fiberglass, and other materials. The broad scope of the Boilermaker trade includes the construction & maintenance activities performed in the field and in industrial and commercial plants

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Exam Information and Resources

Find exam-related information and resources under each menu item below.

This program does not have a Standardized Level Exam for Level 1.

Updates:

  • None

Information:

Updates:

  • None

Information:

Challenge the Trade

If you have significant work experience in a trade but have never been certified in Canada, you may apply to challenge the certification. Learn more about How to Challenge a Skilled Trade.

OR

If you sponsor apprentices but have never been certified in Canada, you may request to supervise and sign-off apprentices when they are ready to be certified. Please contact customer service for more information.