Hire a boilermaker in Québec.

Confirm the worker holds a valid CCQ competency certificate — apprentice (CCA) or journeyperson (CCC) — directly through the CCQ's online services. A worker without a valid certificate can't legally work as a boilermaker on a job site governed by the R-20 Act. Also confirm they hold their ASP Construction card (general health and safety on job sites), a baseline requirement. For an apprentice, check which apprenticeship period they're in (1st, 2nd, or 3rd of the 6,000 hours leading to journeyperson). The pool is small: only 682 boilermakers were active in Quebec in 2024, with 69 companies recruiting them at the same time. Make sure your posting reflects industrial-sector experience, where 95% of the work volume is concentrated, to attract the right candidates quickly.

Yes. Hourly rates are set by CCQ collective agreements and vary by sector. For a journeyperson boilermaker (April 26, 2026), the rate is $50.79/h in civil engineering and roads, $50.79/h in industrial and institutional-commercial, and $47.85/h in light residential. Since 95% of boilermaker work happens in industrial, the $50.79/h rate is the one you'll apply most of the time. Apprentices, meanwhile, earn a fraction of the journeyperson rate based on their period: in the industrial sector, from $30.47/h in period 1 up to $43.17/h in period 3. Always check the official current-rate grid at ccq.org for the exact amount that applies to your job site, by sector and worker classification.

The pool is small and aging. In 2024, 69 companies were splitting 682 active boilermakers, with journeyperson average age reaching 44.6 and 23% at 55 or older — a retirement wave is building. Only 35 new apprentices were admitted into the trade in 2024 (versus a 2020-2023 average of 20 per year), which isn't enough to quickly renew the workforce. Effective moves: post on the CCQ's workforce dashboard, contact the training centres offering the DEP in Boilermaking in Montréal, and work with a construction-focused recruiting agency that knows the available pool of journeypersons. Given the trade's high mobility (66% of boilermakers change regions), widening your search beyond your immediate area often pays off.