Use ultrasound and X-rays to find cracks in pipelines, bridges and aircraft without cutting them open.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Level 2, several methods
$75,000
Trainee, one method
$44,000
Level 3 or oil and gas field
$109,000
Job Bank's national median is $36 an hour, about $75,000 a year full time. Pipeline and refinery inspection in Alberta pays at the top, often with overtime and per diems. Shop inspection in a city pays closer to the median.
$21 to $26 an hour
Trainee or Level 1 technician assisting on one method
About $44,000 to $54,000 a year. Trainees are paid while they collect the supervised hours they need before their first exam.
$48 to $52 an hour
About $100,000 to $109,000 a year
Level 2 technicians certified in several methods, and the rare Level 3 who writes procedures, earn the most. Field work during plant shutdowns can pay double time for weeks.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is genuinely zero, because many employers hire trainees and pay for the method courses and the federal certification exams themselves while you work. The high end is paying your own way: a one or two year college diploma in NDT (non destructive testing) or welding inspection, several method courses of one to three weeks each, and an exam fee for every method and level you certify in. Certificates need renewing at least every five years, which is a small ongoing cost once you are working rather than an entry cost. A vision test is required and is cheap.
Many employers pay for training and exams once you are hired as a trainee, so the cost can be close to zero.
Per diems and travel pay
Field work at remote sites pays daily allowances on top of wages.
Overtime
Shutdowns and turnarounds run 10 to 12 hour days, 7 days a week.
Company truck
Field technicians drive to sites with their gear.
Health and dental
Standard at inspection companies and utilities.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Hire on as a trainee, take a course per method, log supervised hours, pass federal exams.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Math, physics and any shop class. You must pass a near-vision and colour-vision test to be certified.
Optional college program
0 to 2 years
A one- or two-year NDT (non-destructive testing) diploma at colleges such as Mohawk, NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) or SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology). It bundles the method courses and gets you hired faster.
Trainee job
Months to a year
Inspection companies hire trainees to assist certified technicians. You log the supervised experience each method requires.
Certify in your first method
After your hours
Write the federal Level 1 or Level 2 exam: a general written test, a specific written test and a practical test. Magnetic particle and liquid penetrant are the usual first tickets.
Add methods
1 to 3 years
Ultrasonic and radiographic testing take longer to qualify for and pay more. A technician with three or four Level 2 certificates is in high demand.
Physics
Sound waves, X-rays and magnetism are the tools of the trade.
Math
Calculating angles, distances and exposure times.
Welding or manufacturing shop
You inspect welds; knowing how they are made helps you find what is wrong.
English
Inspection reports are legal records.
Canada is unusual: NDT (non-destructive testing) technicians are certified nationally by Natural Resources Canada under one national standard (CAN/CGSB-48.9712, the Canadian version of the international standard). There are three levels for each method. Level 1 works under supervision, Level 2 interprets results and signs reports, Level 3 writes procedures and trains others. Certificates last up to five years, and codes for pipelines, pressure vessels and aircraft require the technician who signs the report to hold the matching certificate.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Ultrasonic testing, Level 2
The workhorse method for welds and pipe. Phased array ultrasonic is the advanced version and pays a premium.
Radiographic testing
X-ray and gamma inspection. Extra radiation safety training and a licence for the source.
Welding inspector (CWB, the Canadian Welding Bureau)
Pairs naturally with NDT (non-destructive testing) and opens supervisory jobs.
Level 3
The top certificate. Few hold it, and inspection companies need one to run a lab.
Driver's licence
Field technicians drive to every job.
Willingness to travel
The highest pay follows shutdowns and pipeline projects.
Good eyesight
You are tested for near vision and colour vision before every certification.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
In a fabrication shop: welds arrive on the bench, you clean them, spray penetrant or run an ultrasonic probe across them, read the screen for flaws, mark defects and write the report. In the field: drive to a pipeline right-of-way or a refinery during a shutdown, set up on a scaffold, scan welds all day, then shoot radiographs at night when the site is clear of people. The work is slow, careful and repetitive, and one missed crack can matter enormously.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Natural Resources Canada runs the national NDT (non-destructive testing) certification body, and it moved to the updated 2022 standard in April 2024. A federal certificate is unusual; most trades are certified province by province.
The federal program certifies ultrasonic, radiographic, magnetic particle, liquid penetrant and eddy current testing at Levels 1, 2 and 3. Aerospace radiography is certified separately at Levels 2 and 3 only.
Every applicant must prove near-vision acuity and adequate colour vision before certification, and visual testing requires distance vision of at least 20/30. The certificate expires in the month of your birthday, up to five years later.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.