• Setting up and operating trade machinery including brake presses, shears, plasma cutters, oxy-fuel cutting torches, grinders, and drills to bend, punch, cut, and form metal components
• Reading and interpreting blueprints, drawings, and schematics
• Performing calculations and applying shop formulas and other mathematical methods to develop patterns and lay out structural steel
• Planning the sequence of tasks and deciding how to cut the steel most efficiently
• Assembling/fitting metal sections and plates together to form units used in assembly process
• Fastening components together using tack welding, bolting, and riveting
• Safely moving assemblies using material handling, rigging, hoisting, and lifting equipment

• Grade 10 the legal minimum; employers usually require secondary school diploma
• Credits in technical math and shop assets
• Completion of a 4,680-hour on-the-job apprenticeship and 5,400 hours of in-school training

• Full-time, sometimes in shifts; generally indoors in fabricating shops or factories
• Welding certificate increases employability; important to keep up with new technologies
• Employers include welding companies; manufacturers of structural steel, boilers, heavy machinery, and transportation equipment; mining and oil/gas companies

Apprentice wage increases with skills and expertise. Fully qualified workers earn an average of $22.00 per hour.

Metal Fabricator (Fitter) (437A)

If you checked YES to the majority of these questions, a career as a Metal Fabricator (Fitter) may be for you!

You might want to look at these similar trades as well;

• Millwright
• Sheet metal worker
• Welder
• Machinist
• Tool and Die Maker
• Boilermaker