Steve Woods is looking forward to finishing his second year as a College of New Caledonia apprenticeship student in the heavy mechanical trades foundation program.

Not only is he increasing his knowledge base to help him do his job, but there’s money riding on it. He’s in line for a hefty wage increase once he’s completed his eight-week-stint at the college and goes back to work in October.

The 42-year-old Woods has always been mechanically-inclined and was pulling wrenches by the time he was 12. He started out fixing small engines, then went into the lumber industry and has been employed at Nechako Lumber sawmill in Vanderhoof for 15 years. He has years of experience as a heavy-duty mechanic and could probably pass the Red Seal exam needed to get his journeyman’s ticket, but he wanted to go through the necessary steps as registered apprentice.

“A lot of people ask why I didn’t just challenge the Red Seal and coming here I’ve actually learned things I never would have learned just challenging a test,” said Woods. “First year, with air conditioning systems I had no idea how they functioned and now I have a very good idea how they work and I can actually troubleshoot and diagnose them.”

With most journeyman heavy mechanical technicians making about $50 per hour, a first-year apprentice earns 60 per cent of that, which works out to $30 per hour, and that will jump to $36 per hour after a second year of school and $42 per hour after the third year. Factor in overtime while short-staffed companies struggle to keep up with their busy workloads and those apprentices are going to be drawing significant paycheques that get fatter each year they’re in class.

“Some of these guys get six or eight dollars (per hour) more, every time they go to school,’ said CNC heavy mechanical trades instructor Craig Hall. “It keeps going up, so they want to get their time in.”

Students in the four-year apprenticeship program have 28 weeks of schooling to learn the theory and practical skills involved in keeping transport trucks, buses, excavators, loaders, skidders and feller bunchers in working order. They learn their trade in the classroom/repair shop at the Finning Heavy Mechanical Trades Training Facility at the Prince George campus. It opened in November 2020 after a $500,000 donation from Finning Canada, which provided the necessary tools, vehicles and equipment used to teach the students.

“What people don’t realize is more than half their class (time) is in theory,” said Hall. “They’re happy to come out and work on this stuff because they spend a lot of time in class learning it.

“Heavy mechanical trades is a blended program. We have engine mechanics, trailer mechanics, heavy-duty commercial transport (mechanics), all in the same stream here, and they work together on the same stuff. They start separating in the fourth year.”

Motor repairs on pieces of heavy equipment haven’t changed much over the decades but how that motor is integrated into the rest of the machine is infinitely more complicated, and the college program attempts to give students a broad understanding.

“The core of an engine is the same as it used to be but now we have after-treatment systems and fuel-injection systems that are very high-tech,” said Hall. “The fuel systems are changing so we make less pollution and these after-treatment systems are very complicated and the students have to learn how to manage these. Everything has gone electronic and these guys have no problem with it.”

Apprenticeship students are released from work by their employers and will continue to be paid or draw employment insurance benefits while they are in school. Apprentices spend 10 weeks in the classroom/shop for the first year, eight weeks in Year 2, six weeks in Year 3 and four weeks in Year 4.

When Woods, Burke and his classmates are finished their fourth year they will need to have worked 6,000 hours before they can then write their technical qualifications Red Seal exam, which allows them to work in every province and territory except Quebec.

The heavy mechanical trades program is in high demand and Burke was on the waitlist for a year before he was accepted to the class, which is limited to 16 students. When student start at the college also depends on when they get released by their employers. Burke, 37, worked as a corrections officer when he decided on a career switch. He started out as a truck driver at Lomak Bulk Carriers, moved into the yard and jumped at the chance to apply for the company’s apprenticeship.

“It took me about a year to get in, and I had on-the-job prior to that, so I learned a little bit coming in, but these guys (at the college) do a much better job of explaining how and why things work, as opposed to just changing out parts,” said Burke. “We get a better fundamental understanding of everything.

“The amount of material is overwhelming at times, but they do a great job of segmenting it so you can better understand small components of it and then put it together in one larger picture. When you’re at work you want to come to school and when you’re at school you want to go back to work.”

Burke and Woods were first-year classmates two years ago and because of their job demands both missed the first intake of second-year students. Their familiarity with each other has made their second year of classes that much more enjoyable and they’re learning how important teamwork and communication skills are in their trade. That’s much easier this year than in 2020, when the pandemic forced the class to do all the paperwork at home through a Zoom connection.

“We’re in the same trade but we’re different, because he’s transport and I’m heavy duty,” said Woods. “So I have more knowledge on some things and he has heck of a lot more on other things so when we pair up it’s nice, we can have a conversation and I can understand something he knows. Partnering up with all these guys, it works really great that way.”

Woods wants to branch off into automotive service and earn a second Red Seal certification in that program so he can become a master mechanic and be a teacher. He couldn’t start his apprenticeship until the sawmill where he works hired a certified heavy trades mechanic.

“I’ve been waiting for this for 15 years, it took 13 to get in before we had the process in place,” said Woods.

Like Woods, Burke has two sons and both trying to get their boys to consider career as mechanics. Burke was going to ask his nine-year-old to help him change the oil in his truck and he wasn’t sure how long he could keep him interested. Burke’s career choice means he’s able to spend more time with his kids than most dads can, working for a better-than-average salary. If he’s good at his job and willing to work the hours, he could be making as much as $300,000 a year.

“This career is really high-paying and you get great schedules,” said Burke. “For me, where I work at Lomak, I only work six months a year, because I’m four (days) on, four off, and I still make 100 grand a year. I can’t say enough good things about it, and it’s only going to get better. I’ve still got another $13 or $14 an hour before I’m a journeyman.”

But there’s no denying it; working in heavy mechanical trades, with all the lifting involved, often exposed to the weather, it can be a dirty job that’s hard on the body.

Said Burke: “I get covered in grease and oil and I go home and hug my kids and my son says, ‘Dad, you smell like diesel and metal.’”