Diploma of Welding and Fabrication Technician/Welding Techniques

Our welding programs stand out for their excellent instructors, superior facilities and strong reputation among employers.

Skills that are in demand

The need for skilled welders is growing in Canada. Sheridan's welding programs offer superior training and a pathway into this highly desirable trade. You'll get a thorough, practical education in the most current welding techniques and theories. Upon graduation, you'll be qualified to enter an apprenticeship as a welder, boilermaker, pipefitter, steamfitter, millwright or sheet-metal mechanic.

Canadian Welding Bureau certification

Our welding programs provide opportunities for Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) certification. Welding and Fabrication Technician diploma students may challenge structural steel tests in four welding processes to obtain up to 13 licences. In our 1-year Welding Techniques certificate program, students may test in three welding processes in the flat position to obtain up to three licences.

Modern technology and facilities

Our welding courses take place in a sophisticated workshop that mirrors a professional workplace. In both the diploma and certificate programs, you'll work with the most current technology, getting hands-on training in shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and Flux Core Arc Welding (FCAW).

In the diploma program, you'll also learn flat, horizontal, vertical and overhead welding techniques using commonly used materials such as light gauge mild steel, heavy structural steel and pipe. The diploma prepares students for both structural and pipe/pressure vessel applications.

Prepare for your career

In the classroom, you’ll study industrial practices in areas such as:

• Metallurgy (chemical processes)

• Safety

• Blueprints and construction documents

• Layout and fabrication

• Trade calculations

• Welding theory

• Communications for the trades

You'll also learn how to conduct a job search, maintain proper work documentation, and communicate effectively on the job.

Outstanding professors

Sheridan instructors combine years of teaching experience with decades of professional welding practice. They provide lessons that apply in the real world, not just the classroom. Small classes ensure that you get plenty of one-on-one instruction and mentoring.

Explore your future lab

As a Welding Techniques student at Sheridan, you'll work in specialty labs with industry-standard equipment. Curious to see inside? Take a virtual tour of a welding lab which you'll use as a student in this program.

Learning Outcomes

The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:

• Use safe practices in the welding environment related to personal conduct, use of tools and equipment and exposure to hazardous materials and conditions in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations for industrial establishments.

• Utilize blueprints and shop drawings to achieve specified weldment configurations.

• Apply trade-related math skills to welding and fabrication including geometry, algebra, trigonometry, area, volume and ratio as well as calculations involving weights, loads and lifts.

• Use the main thermal cutting, beveling, piercing and gouging processes common to the welding/fabrication environment to complete practical projects.

• Perform hands-on, all position surface fillet and groove welds with backing using oxy-fuel (OFW), shielded metal arc (SMAW), gas metal arc (GMAW), flux core arc (FCAW) and gas tungsten (GTAW) welding processes and appropriate consumables and common materials of structural shapes and composition.

• Perform open root welding on plate and pipe in all positions using SMAW and GTAW processes.

• Correct weld discontinuities and fit errors, applying knowledge of metals, their properties and the impact of various processes on them.

• Solve problems related to materials, tools, equipment and processes used in the welding/fabrication environment to acceptable industry standards.

• Adhere to codes, standards and specifications relevant to each specific fabrication activity.

• Apply appropriate distortion control and correction techniques to expansion and contraction forces when required in a given welding process.

• Use the appropriate lifting, hoisting and rigging devices safely in welding and fabrication and according to weight calculations and configurations.

• Prepare accurate estimates of time and costs using Word and Excel for a given welding/fabrication project.

• Apply welding and fabrication industry knowledge and skills to meet expectations of Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) practical testing.

• Perform preventative maintenance related to welding materials, tools and equipment.

• Fabricate an item from initial sketches to completion and inspection according to given standards and tolerances.