Job prospects Production Welder in British Columbia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "production welder" in British Columbia or across Canada.

Job opportunities in British Columbia

The recent trends from the past 3 years were updated on July 25, 2025. The job outlooks over the next 3 years were updated on December 10, 2025.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be Limited for welders and related machine operators (NOC 72106) in British Columbia for the 2025-2027 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.
• Due to the seasonal nature of this occupation, employment opportunities tend to be more favourable during the summer months.

British Columbia has faced slower demand and delays in new construction starts as shortages of skilled workers and rising wages continue to drive up construction costs. 

In residential construction, slower housing starts will impact growth in construction jobs. 

Renovation investment is expected to steadily increase to maintain older housing and allow homeowners to age in place. 

Employment in this occupation is primarily in the non-residential construction sector. 

Non-residential sector growth is variable over the forecast period, with a peak in 2027 due to major engineering and ICI (industrial, commercial, institutional) projects. 

The education, transportation (for example public transit and highways), utilities (for example power lines), high tech (for example AI data centres), mining, oil and gas (for example pipelines and LNG terminals) sectors have major infrastructure investments planned. 

Here are some key facts about welders and related machine operators in British Columbia:

• Approximately 12,100 people work in this occupation.
• Welders and related machine operators mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Repair and maintenance (NAICS 811): 25%
  • Fabricated metal product manufacturing (NAICS 332): 17%
  • Construction (NAICS 23): 14%
  • Machinery manufacturing (NAICS 333): 7%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 94% compared to 78% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 6% compared to 22% for all occupations
• 62% of welders and related machine operators work all year, while 38% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 44 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 15% of welders and related machine operators are self-employed compared to an average of 17% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: more than 95% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: less than 5% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: 7% compared to 8% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 15% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 59% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 15% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: less than 5% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 12% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in British Columbia by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

Learn more