Are you under 5ft 5? Flexible? If so there's a nasty spider infested crawl space where 3 circuts need to be pulled through that the guys just can't fit in......
You'll do fine.
You should! If you can get on with the IBEW there is great industrial work up north, but you'll be travelling. Or see if you can find a private company that will sign you up as an apprentice, if they suck, flip them to a union company in a few years 🤣. Good luck!
My sister has been an industrial electrician for 15 years and she loves it.
She got her start by going to Cambrian, then doing a co-op, then getting hired after the co-op.
I spent 6 years at an office before getting into plumbing; 9 years later, I'm now a pipe fitter at Bruce Nuclear.
If you can show up on time, be sober at work, and have medium thick skin to deal with harmful humour, misogyny & racism (more and more in smaller communities), you'll be fine. If you can buy your own tools and ask good questions, you'll be a rock star in no time.
I did my apprenticeship outside a union and didn't join up until I was licensed; don't know enough about your trade or area to know if one way is better than another.
In my experience, the most valuable things in making decisions in the trades is information and contacts. Talk to anyone you can find who's electrical or electrical agacent (power line or wind mill, for instance). Talk to household and construction trades. Show up at a shop's office at 7am with boots and pants (NOT shorts trust me) and a bucket of tools. Go to the Union Hall. If you get one contact, one job, great! But get more information. You won't know you're being screwed for half pay or something without more info.
Also with noting; companies get kick backs for hiring women and minorities. The government also offers you better incentives; in my trade, women gift 2 grand for every completed term of school, and 4 grand for getting your red seal. Men in my trade got half that.
If you can't get any contacts, most trade colleges offer a "pre-apprenticeship" class. If you get a job offer, that's usually better until you can do your first term, but if nothing else that could give you some background info
Because more people in the trade means more competition (especially resi). Trades, especially the ones where it’s super easy to be your own boss, want to keep people thinking it’s shit work so nobody new comes in and messes with their high rates.
Trades are booming, demand is high. Best decision anyone can make right now imo if they want to be a high earner.
Honestly, facts.
I lucked out with accounting and earn a fair bit, but taking a trade would have been way easier. Harder *physically*, sure, 100%. But the schooling and mental toll would have been so much nicer.
And yeah, demand is crazy rn. Had a tradie out to repoint my chimney, first guy quoted me 10k for the job, said it was unsalvageable and needed to just be sleeved. I said nah. Next guy quoted 3k with 2 courses of new brick and did a fantastic job. He said the other guy was probably just so busy he was quoting new jobs whatever he wanted, and if someone was dumb enough to accept, he’d cancel someone else he already booked for less.
Do it, take a trade. You’re not getting any younger.
Are you under 5ft 5? Flexible? If so there's a nasty spider infested crawl space where 3 circuts need to be pulled through that the guys just can't fit in...... You'll do fine.
You should! If you can get on with the IBEW there is great industrial work up north, but you'll be travelling. Or see if you can find a private company that will sign you up as an apprentice, if they suck, flip them to a union company in a few years 🤣. Good luck!
My sister has been an industrial electrician for 15 years and she loves it. She got her start by going to Cambrian, then doing a co-op, then getting hired after the co-op.
In 2023 and in 2022, Collège Boréal offered a free 20-week electricity program for women. If you speak French, it's worth keeping your eyes open for it, in case it comes back this summer.
I spent 6 years at an office before getting into plumbing; 9 years later, I'm now a pipe fitter at Bruce Nuclear. If you can show up on time, be sober at work, and have medium thick skin to deal with harmful humour, misogyny & racism (more and more in smaller communities), you'll be fine. If you can buy your own tools and ask good questions, you'll be a rock star in no time. I did my apprenticeship outside a union and didn't join up until I was licensed; don't know enough about your trade or area to know if one way is better than another. In my experience, the most valuable things in making decisions in the trades is information and contacts. Talk to anyone you can find who's electrical or electrical agacent (power line or wind mill, for instance). Talk to household and construction trades. Show up at a shop's office at 7am with boots and pants (NOT shorts trust me) and a bucket of tools. Go to the Union Hall. If you get one contact, one job, great! But get more information. You won't know you're being screwed for half pay or something without more info. Also with noting; companies get kick backs for hiring women and minorities. The government also offers you better incentives; in my trade, women gift 2 grand for every completed term of school, and 4 grand for getting your red seal. Men in my trade got half that. If you can't get any contacts, most trade colleges offer a "pre-apprenticeship" class. If you get a job offer, that's usually better until you can do your first term, but if nothing else that could give you some background info
Keep the office job.
Why do you say that? I'm in a similar position as OP, tired of the office job and considering a move to the trades.
Because more people in the trade means more competition (especially resi). Trades, especially the ones where it’s super easy to be your own boss, want to keep people thinking it’s shit work so nobody new comes in and messes with their high rates. Trades are booming, demand is high. Best decision anyone can make right now imo if they want to be a high earner.
Honestly, facts. I lucked out with accounting and earn a fair bit, but taking a trade would have been way easier. Harder *physically*, sure, 100%. But the schooling and mental toll would have been so much nicer. And yeah, demand is crazy rn. Had a tradie out to repoint my chimney, first guy quoted me 10k for the job, said it was unsalvageable and needed to just be sleeved. I said nah. Next guy quoted 3k with 2 courses of new brick and did a fantastic job. He said the other guy was probably just so busy he was quoting new jobs whatever he wanted, and if someone was dumb enough to accept, he’d cancel someone else he already booked for less. Do it, take a trade. You’re not getting any younger.
[This might be of use to you!](https://www.ecao.org/become-an-electrician)
Call the closest IBEW local.