Hire a welder in Québec.

The pool is small: 377 active welders in 2024, spread across 154 companies. Only 24 new workers entered the trade that year. This is a trade under real pressure — plan ahead and start recruiting early. Part of the constraint is structural: welders need both a DEP in Welding-Fitting and the CCGIC course before they're even eligible for the occupation competency certificate. With 44% of active welders already working outside their home region, casting a wider geographic net is often necessary just to fill a single position. Given the CCQ projects a need for 17,000 new recruits per year across the industry through 2028, and only 24 new welders entered the trade in 2024, competition for anyone holding a valid occupation competency certificate is likely to stay fierce for the foreseeable future.

A welder with a journeyperson-level occupation competency certificate (CCO) can work independently. The CCO is issued by the CCQ after a DEP and the CCGIC — verify your candidate's card is current before hiring, it's a legal requirement on sites governed by the R-20 Act. For industrial or pipefitting work specifically, also check whether the job requires a CWB certification or pressure vessel qualification — some contracts require them outright. With only 377 active welders across the whole province in 2024, a worker holding those extra credentials is worth prioritizing when you find one. Since the trade covers everything from arc welding and metal prep to reading specs and adjusting parameters by material, verifying a candidate's CCO alone doesn't guarantee they can handle every process — ask about their specific experience before assigning them unsupervised work.

If you require a welding certification because of the nature of your work, the CCQ's Welding Qualification Fund can reimburse certain costs to the employee (travel, lodging, exam fees). It costs you nothing directly, and it helps attract and retain strong candidates. That's a meaningful advantage in a trade this tight: only 24 new workers entered in 2024, against 154 companies competing for 377 active welders overall. Pointing candidates toward the Welding Qualification Fund during hiring conversations can be the deciding factor when they're weighing your offer against another employer's. With only 24 new welders entering the trade in 2024 against 154 companies competing for 377 active workers, covering certification costs through the fund is a low-cost way to stand out to a candidate weighing several offers in a very tight market.