Education · 1 of 4
The path
An apprenticeship: three to four years of paid site work with short school blocks.
- 1
High school diploma
Grade 12
Grade 12 with math and shop. You must be comfortable at height and physically strong.
- 2
Get into the union hall or a contractor
Weeks to months
Most ironworkers are union. Locals run intake with a fitness test and an aptitude test. Non-union steel erectors and rebar contractors also sponsor.
- 3
Register the apprenticeship
Days
With Skilled Trades Ontario, Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training, or your province's trades body. Pick a stream: generalist, structural, or reinforcing.
- 4
Work and study
3 to 4 years
About 6,000 hours in Ontario: roughly 5,300 on the job plus three school levels of roughly 8 weeks, often at the union training centre.
- 5
Certificate of Qualification and Red Seal
After your hours
Pass the provincial exam. The Red Seal endorsement lets you follow the work to any province.