Use ultrasound and X-rays to find cracks in pipelines, bridges and aircraft without cutting them open.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
The median pay is about $75,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $44,000 at the lower end to about $109,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
1 to 3 years, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
From nothing up to about $30,000, depending on the route, for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
Yes. It is a regulated job, so you need a licence or registration before you can work.
Limited demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$75,000
Lower end
$44,000
Upper end
$109,000
Job Bank's national median is $36 an hour, about $75,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower end ($21.13) and upper end ($52.48) are the bottom and top of the wage range for everyone in the group. Pipeline and refinery field work often comes with overtime and per diems on top.
$41.77 an hour
The median in British Columbia, about $87,000 a year
Newfoundland and Labrador is next at $38.77, and Quebec is the lowest at $29.91. Trainees are paid while they collect the supervised hours they need before their first exam.
Roughly, all in
Nothing to $30,000
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. 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.
Certification is federal, so the exams are the same as anywhere in Canada, but Quebec trains people through a 3 year CEGEP (public college) program or a shorter college attestation.
Secondary V math and science
Secondary V
The DEC (Diploma of College Studies) needs Secondary V math in the Technical and Scientific or Science sequence, and Secondary IV environmental science and technology.
DEC in Metallurgical Engineering Technology (270.A0)
3 years
3 years, with a materials control option that covers testing and inspection. Offered in French at Cégep de Trois-Rivières and Cégep de Chicoutimi.
Or the shorter college attestation
Check with the college
The AEC (Attestation of College Studies) in Non-Destructive Testing Inspection at Cégep de Trois-Rivières, in French. It prepares you for the federal and welding bureau certification exams.
Trainee job
Months to a year
Inspection companies, aerospace plants and fabricators hire trainees to assist certified technicians. You log the supervised hours each method requires.
Federal certification
After your hours
Natural Resources Canada certifies technicians by method and level, the same in every province. The testing and training centre in Trois-Rivières is the only bilingual certified centre in Quebec.
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.
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
Shutdowns and pipeline projects bring overtime and per diems.
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 sharp close-up vision and good enough 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.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Metal and machining first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
Last checked October 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. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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