
To keep your skills current, you have to keep up with new technological developments by reading and talking with other carpenters. With a Red Seal, you can work as a Carpenter anywhere in Canada. Once certified as a Carpenter, you may attempt the Interprovincial Exam to qualify for the Interprovincial Standards’ Red Seal.



You may be eligible for certification if you have more than four years of on-the-job experience and some high school, college or industry courses in carpentry. Once you successfully complete the required on-the-job training, technical training and exams, you are awarded a journeyperson certificate. To be certified as a Carpenter, you usually need to complete a four-year apprenticeship program. Certification tells employers and other workers that you are a skilled professional. Even where certification is voluntary, it is still recommended. It is available but voluntary in all other provinces and territories. Related work experience or completion of a carpenter program at a college or technical institute can reduce the time required to complete your apprenticeship.Ĭertification is required in Quebec. Some provinces and territories offer secondary school apprenticeship programs that allow high school students to work towards a career as a carpenter.įor more information, check out the apprenticeship section.Ĭarpentry apprenticeship programs vary across Canada, but generally involve four 12-month periods, including at least 5,440 hours of on-the-job training and four eight-week blocks of technical training. You may find it helpful to enrol in math, shop, industrial arts and mechanical drawing courses in high school. You are usually required to complete secondary school. Requirements for carpentry apprenticeship programs vary across Canada. Wages start at about 60 per cent of a journeyperson’s hourly rate and increase during your apprenticeship until you reach the full rate. If you place a spirit level on a plank you hold up to the wall, it will tell you whether or not it is perfectly horizontal.Apprenticeship involves both classroom studies and on-the-job training under the supervision of a certified Carpenter, called a journeyperson.Īs an apprentice, you earn while you learn and are paid by the hour while working on the job site. Levels are the key to symmetry, straight lines, and general accuracy. There a few different ways to start your training as a carpenter, and you don't necessarily need to have graduated from high school to start them all. Once you have made your measurement, you’ll need to mark where each piece of wood needs to be sawed, nailed, and so on. Working in various conditions (indoor, outdoor, and inclement weather) 2.

This is a fancy name for pens or pencils. We are leveraging our 130-year history to prepare for tomorrow by training, educating, and representing the next generation of construction professionals. Practicing on one of these is a good place to start as an aspiring carpenter. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters is one of North America’s largest building-trades unions, with nearly a half-million members in the construction and wood-products industries. The most common is, fittingly, the universal saw. Carpentry wouldn’t be an art without the saw. If one measurement is off, the whole project could fail. The ability to make precise measurements is one of the most important parts of being a great carpenter. A hammer and nails are important to any carpentry project. Hammering and pulling out nails is a big part of being a carpenter. While there are hundreds of carpentry tools, there are certain tools that every aspiring carpenter needs to become intimately familiar with.
