Right Skills at the Right Time: Pipeline training in Miramichi

[caption id="attachment_29658" align="alignleft" width="213"] Bob Eadie of TransCanada shows pipe to Premier Alward[/caption]

The UA (United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada) has a training facility on the corner of Water Street and Princess Street. If you drive by there you will see some very large pieces of pipe laying on the ground. These pipes measure 42 and 48 inches in diameter, and they are the same type of pipes that will be carrying oil from western Canada to refineries in St. John in a few years.

The pipe was given to the UA by TransCanada Corporation so that tradesmen could train on the specific techniques that will be required to work on the mega project.

TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas and oil pipelines. It is the company that will begin application/regulatory process in the coming months, the first steps in getting approval to begin construction of the Energy East Pipeline. The 4,600-kilometre pipeline will carry 1.1-million barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries in Eastern Canada. (More pipeline info HERE)

The UA training facility was originally opened to train welders and pipefitters from Northern New Brunswick, but this new initiative will be for the benefit of tradesmen all across New brunswick, and will bring welders and pipefitters to Miramichi to learn the essential skills.

The donation of the pipe is part of a national partnership between the UA and TransCanada to enable welders, pipefitters and apprentices to obtain the advanced training and upgrading in pipe welding and cutting they require to work in the pipeline construction industry. The pipe is donated to UA locations in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Sarnia, Montreal, Miramichi and Dartmouth.

Highly-skilled welders will be a key part of important pipeline projects such as Energy East, and the UA has a significant role in preparing future generations for important job opportunities as pipeline professionals with expertise in their field.

Bob Eadie, Energy East Pipeline Project Director at TransCanada said the training the union is providing is supplemented by engineering procedures provided by TransCanada that detail temperature, number of passes and materials to be used, and lso instructions for setting up automatic welding machines.

"The importance of this is train local welders and pipefitters to work on the project, not just here in New Brunswick but elsewhere in Canada," Eadie said. "Right now there are a number of welders working in western Canada, and hopefully this project will bring them back home."

"Look, it's been really good on the road. People are telling us they want their families back in New Brunswick, and their communities to be stronger." -- Alward

Eadie says there is a large skills gap at the moment, and the training initiative is meant to get more people trained for when the project is in full swing in 2017. "The permit process will begin next month, and is expected to take two years," eadie said. "The plan is to have oil in St. John in the spring of 2018."

Premier David Alward was also on hand for the announcement. "This project is real," Alward said as he was standing in front of the large sections of pipe, "when you can see the pipe here. This is an outstanding partnership between the UA and TransCanada that they are doing across the country to ensure that we have people with the right skills at the right time."

Alward went on to say that too many skilled tradesman from NB are working away from home. "This opportunity to train and work at home is a sign of what is coming, an opportunity for New Brunswickers to work close to home."

The Premier is very upbeat about the pipeline project, and other investments currently being made in the province. "Am I ever looking forward to this [pipeline] project getting started in New Brunswick. There are other projects taking place in the province that are bringing economic prosperity tot he region." Alward pointed to the money Corridor Resources are spending in the Penobsquis area fracking wells there, and the exploration SWN has done in the Kent County region.

Alward says his government has been asking New Brunswickers to say yes to natural resource development like shale gas and the pipeline project. "Look, it's been really good on the road. People are telling us they want their families back in New Brunswick, and their communities to be stronger."