Welding education on the road in NB

The CWB Welding Foundation has many different ways in which it creates outreach opportunities in the community, each of which offers young people a chance to engage with welding technology. Programs such as its Mind Over Metal camps, which began in 2014, have introduced youth and their parents to the career opportunities for welders.

The newest initiative of the organization is no less ambitious, tackling the constraints of a provincial school system with a unique concept—a welding school on wheels.

The Welding on Wheels trailer was developed as a partnership among New Brunswick’s Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, the CWB Welding Foundation, Ocean Steel & Construction Ltd., and Source Atlantic Ltd. The portable welding trailer is designed to give valuable experiential learning opportunities to students in New Brunswick high schools that have qualified welding instructors but no welding facility.

The trailer, completed last summer, accommodates 16 students with eight welding booths, plus a grinding and cutting station and a weld testing area. The $240,000 cost to build it was split equally among the partners.

The trailer will be moved each semester to schools lacking the appropriate facilities. It spent its first semester at Leo Hayes High School in Fredericton, and it’s currently at Rothesay High School.

“CWB Welding Foundation is passionate about providing access to welding education to students,” said Executive Director Susan Crowley. “The mobile welding trailer will provide otherwise non-existent opportunities for youth to engage in hands-on experiential education in welding. Welding on Wheels will serve as a pillar for Atlantic Canada’s youth exploring welding education and provide a gateway to skilled trades.”

Students who use the trailer will have access to online curriculum and industry-standard teacher training delivered through the foundation. In addition to welding instruction, students will learn about apprenticeship pathways and career opportunities in welding and related trades and professions.

Apprenticeships, of course, are key to developing welding skills. On that note, I’d like to extend congratulations to Sudbury, Ont.-based City Welding for receiving Cambrian College’s 2022 Employer of Distinction in February at the college’s annual Career Fair Conference. The 50-year-old fabricating and welding operation has taken many students from the school on placement and has been an employer of choice among graduates of the college. Welding talent doesn’t magically appear, and businesses like City Welding help to build on the raw skills that colleges and organizations like CWB Foundation nurture.