High-pressure pipe in power plants, refineries and hospitals. Union rates around $50 an hour.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Journeyperson
$91,000
1st-year apprentice
$56,000
Union with overtime
$116,000
Union members of the UA (the plumbers and pipefitters union) in Toronto, Sarnia and Alberta sit at the top. A big shutdown or nuclear refurbishment with heavy overtime can push a year past this range.
$24 to $28 an hour
First-year apprentice
Apprentice pay is a percentage of the journeyperson rate and climbs every year. Industrial employers and union halls pay more than small mechanical shops.
About $44 to $50 an hour
$44 is the national median. Union rates through UA (the plumbers and pipefitters union) Local 46 in Toronto run higher, with pension and benefits on top
That is roughly $91,000 to $104,000 a year at full-time hours before overtime. The top 10% earn about $56 an hour. A welding ticket adds several dollars an hour.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
Apprentices are paid from day one, so almost nobody finishes this trade carrying debt. The low end is three school blocks at the cheaper provincial rate, a starter tool kit and the certificate exam. The high end is four blocks at the top of the range with a fuller set of tools. The Canada Apprentice Loan is interest free up to 4,000 dollars a block and EI (Employment Insurance) covers part of your income during school, but the federal Apprenticeship Incentive Grant ended in 2025, so check what your province offers now.
The federal Apprenticeship Incentive Grant was wound down in 2025, so check what your province offers now. Most apprentices still finish with no debt.
Union pension
UA (the plumbers and pipefitters union) locals run defined-benefit pension plans. Rare outside government jobs.
Health and dental
Overtime at time and a half or double time
Plant shutdowns often run 10 to 12 hour days, 6 days a week.
Travel, camp and living-out allowances
On remote industrial and oil sands work.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A paid apprenticeship. Ontario's is one of the longest in the trades at 9,000 hours.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Grade 12 math, physics and shop. A welding class is a real advantage.
Find a sponsor
Weeks to months
A mechanical contractor or a union hall. Pre-apprenticeship college programs and union intake exams are the usual way in.
Register the apprenticeship
Days
With Skilled Trades Ontario, Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training, or SkilledTradesBC.
Work and study
4 to 5 years
9,000 hours in Ontario (8,280 on the job plus 720 in class over three blocks). Alberta runs 4 years of about 1,560 hours plus 8 weeks of school each.
Certificate of Qualification and Red Seal
After your hours
Pass the provincial exam. The Red Seal endorsement lets you work in any province.
Math
Pipe offsets, angles and pressure calculations every day. Trigonometry matters here more than in most trades.
Physics
Steam, pressure and heat are the whole job.
Welding or shop classes
Many steamfitters weld their own joints.
Technical drawing
You build from isometric drawings and blueprints.
In Ontario, steamfitter is a compulsory trade: you must be a registered apprentice or hold a Certificate of Qualification to do the work. Alberta lists steamfitter-pipefitter as compulsory too, and BC added it to its Skilled Trades Certification list. Steamfitter/Pipefitter is a Red Seal trade, so your ticket transfers between provinces once you pass the interprovincial exam.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Welding tickets
CWB (Canadian Welding Bureau) tickets and pressure welding tickets add several dollars an hour. A steamfitter who can weld is the most wanted person on site.
Plumber licence (a second trade)
Many hold both. It opens commercial and hospital work that is less cyclical.
Medical gas certification
Hospitals need certified installers for oxygen and vacuum piping.
Nuclear security clearance
Ontario's Darlington and Bruce nuclear refurbishments hire pipefitters by the hundreds, with steady multi-year work.
Pre-apprenticeship program
A college semester in plumbing or steamfitting that makes union intake easier.
Driver's licence
Job sites are rarely on a bus route.
Rigging and confined-space tickets
Short courses. Industrial sites expect them.
Willingness to travel
The best-paid work is where the plants are, not always where you live.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Start at 7am with a safety briefing. Read the isometric drawing, measure and cut pipe, fit and tack the joints, then weld or bolt flanges. Hang pipe from steel with rigging gear. Pressure-test the line before it goes live. On a plant shutdown the pace doubles: 10 to 12 hour days for a few weeks, then time off. On new construction it is steadier but more repetitive.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Steamfitters build systems that carry steam and hot water under pressure. Pipefitters build everything else that flows: fuel, chemicals, medical gas, refrigerant. In Canada it is one Red Seal ticket.
Refurbishing the Darlington and Bruce nuclear stations is a decade-long job that has put thousands of pipefitters to work. Nuclear sites need a security clearance, and they pay for it.
Refineries and chemical plants shut down every year or two for maintenance, called a turnaround. Hundreds of pipefitters work 12 hour days for a month. Some tradespeople chase turnarounds across the country for the overtime.
Steamfitter/Pipefitter is a Red Seal trade. A certified pipefitter can go from Sarnia to Fort McMurray without re-qualifying.
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.