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Schedule time with Katelyn
LocationVermilion
CredentialJourneyperson
Program Length3 training periods
Delivery MethodFace-to-face

Coordination and concentration are two things you’ll need to be a welder. If you are good with your hands, have good hand-eye coordination and pay attention to detail, this trade is for you.

Your apprenticeship is 3 years. Every year you have 8 weeks of classroom instruction and a minimum of 1,560 hours of on-the-job training.

About half of your training will be to improve your practical welding skills. The other half is about shop skills. Your learning space is our applied engineering wing of Lakeland’s Trades Centre.

Welding uses heat to melt and fuse metals together, or to separate them. You could be working with beams, girders, vessels, piping and other metal parts.

As well, welders make and repair metal parts for construction and manufacturing. You might weld parts, tools, machines and equipment.

You'll learn to use different processes depending upon the type of metal.

Often you'll work from a blue print or work order to complete a project.

Find work in a variety of industries, including:

  • pressure welding construction
  • commercial and industrial construction
  • maintenance and equipment repair
  • structural steel fabrication

Requirements

More program details

This information will be available soon.

The following tables summarize the topics/skills for each of your three 240 hour (8 week) classroom instruction periods.

For complete details, check the welder course outline, or check welder on Tradesecrets, the Alberta government's Apprentice & Industry Training branch website.

Subject

Hours

Workplace safety and tools 46

Welding technology and properties of metals

48
GMAW, FCAW, MCAW and SAW 117
Trades Math 29

Subject

Hours

SMAW I 89
GTAW 43

Pattern development and estimating

43
SMAW II 65

Subject

Hours

SMAW III 72

Welds on mild steel, plate and pipe

104
Drawing interpretation 40
Trades Science 24

To see what day registration opens in May, check the 2025-2026 schedule on MyTradeSecrets.

See intake schedules for all apprenticeship intakes at Lakeland College.

To see other important dates such as when the college is closed, visit the academic year and term date page.

Training Period Start and End Dates
1st period
  • Mar 3 - Apr 25, 2025 
  • May 5 - Jun 27, 2025
  • Jan 5 - Feb 27, 2026
  • Mar 2 - Apr 24, 2026
  • May 4 - Jun 26, 2026
2nd period
  • May 5 - Jun 27, 2025
  • Aug 25 - Oct 17, 2025
  • Jan 5 - Feb 27, 2026
  • May 4 - Jun 26, 2026
3rd period
  • Mar 3 - Apr 25, 2025
  • Oct 20 - Dec 21, 2025
  • Mar 2 - Apr 24, 2026

Refund/withdrawal policy

Full refund of fees less $100 if you withdraw up to 5 business days prior to the first day of class. No exceptions.

Enhance your journeyperson status with 2 other standards.

  1. The Red Seal is a national designation. You earn it by passing an interprovincial exam. That means you can work anywhere in Canada with your Red Seal Endorsement (RSE). Currently not all trades have a red seal standard.
  2. The Blue Seal is an Alberta program. It’s earned by taking approved business studies. Now a separate certificate, the program also has a new name: Achievement in Business Competencies (Blue Seal).

A Red Seal shows that you have successfully completed an inter provincial standards exam. You’ll get a distinctive red seal to attach to your journeyman certificate.red seal graphic

This means you will be able to work anywhere in Canada without having to write another province’s trade exam.

The Red Seal Program was created in 1952. It encourages the standardization of apprenticeship training and certification programs across Canada. A national occupational analysis of each of the 56 Red Seal trade is used as a base document for inter provincial exams and is encouraged for use in curriculum development. The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) administers the program.

Check the Red Seal trades in Alberta.

For more information, check the ​Red Seal Website. Exams, samples questions, and individual trade standards are included.

Lakeland also offers prep courses for red seal exams for anyone who hasn’t achieved their red seal status. Check trades continuing education for those courses.

Blue Seal program is the common name for the Achievement in Business Competencies Program.
blue seal graphic

If you have a valid Alberta Journeyperson Certificate, you are eligible to receive a Blue Seal after completing 150 hours of study in an approved business program. You can choose courses at Lakeland College.

The Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board established the Achievement in Business Competencies Program. It both encourages and recognizes business studies by anyone who is already certified in an Alberta designated trade or occupation.

Complete details are available on the Blue Seal website.

Lakeland offers you the ability to take both online and face-to-face business courses in Lloydminster.

You can earn while you learn as you can fit the courses into your work schedule.

Take courses in our 1-year general business certificate. You'll need at least 4 courses to reach the minimum 150 hours to earn a blue seal.

If you have the academic requirements, you could earn the certificate.

Please contact our business enrolment specialist for more information about how to apply for courses and how to reach your goal.

Classes start immediately after orientation, so be prepared to start your studies on orientation day. Bring binders, pens and pencils with you, or purchase them on registration day.

Bring personal protection equipment. You will be working in the shop the first day.

Required supplies

1st period
  • protective apparel - cotton coveralls/carhartt
  • one pair leather welder's gloves (gauntlet type)
  • one welder's hat/beanie
  • two 3-ring binders (3 - 4"; letter size)
  • loose leaf paper or notebook
  • one padlock (for locker)
  • approved safety glasses (compulsory) or prescription glasses (hardened or plastic, complete with side shields)
  • clear and dark face shields, welding helmet and extra dark and clear lenses
  • MIG pliers (only for 1st year)
  • two pairs of vice grip
  • steel toe safety boots (CSA approved)
  • soap stone
  • tip cleaners
  • calculator (Casio FX260) - available at Lakeland bookstore
  • file (pipe liner) - 14"
  • laptop/tablet (recommended)
2nd period

All items listed in the 1st period (with the exception of MIG pliers), plus:

  • one 6" compass
  • one ruler (with both imperial and metric measurements)
3rd period

All items listed in the 1st and 2nd period (with the exception of MIG pliers), plus:

  • wedge or spacing tool

If you have any questions, please contact:

New credential

Alberta's new Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act is adding another credential for successful journeypersons. Certificates through advanced diplomas will be granted based on the number of credits in the particular trade.  One apprenticeship credit is equal to 300 on-the-jobs hours or 15 classroom hours.

Your credential helps employers recognize your level of education as well as help you if you pursue further education.

Welders receive a diploma.

Continue your learning

Your journeyperson ticket can be a starting point, not an end point of your welding skills.

  1. You may take specific professional development courses. Lakeland offers some of those courses through trades continuing education.
  2. Take a second or third trade. See Alberta's Tradesecrets website for related trades. Related trades include:
  3. boilermaker
  4. metal fabricator (fitter)
  5. steamfitter-pipefitter
  6. welder - wire process operator
  7. You also have the option of earning Red and Blue Seals. The welder Red Seal has been around since 1979.
Red Seal

Your Red Seal indicates you’ve passed an interprovincial exam and can work in any part of Canada.

Blue Seal

This Alberta certification encourages journeypersons to study business. Earning your seal requires 150 hours of study at an approved institution (Lakeland qualifies). See the Blue and Red Seal page (link above) for more information.

Sparks fly as a welder works in the shop
You'll showcase your skills in the classroom, in the trades centre, on the job and even at competitions. In the last six years, Lakeland students have won 17 skills Alberta medals.


Learning in action

Students working on heavy equipment
Home to the multiple apprenticeship trades offered on the Vermilion campus, our Trades Centre is fully equipped for you to learn all that you need. Check it out through a virtual tour.


Explore our campus

Student inspecting a part
Our alumni are finding fulfilling and satisfying careers in their trades. Look at where an apprenticeship can take you and begin building your own future today. 


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