Main duties

Industrial electricians perform some or all of the following duties:

• Read and interpret drawings, blueprints, schematics and electrical code specifications to determine layout of industrial electrical equipment installations
• Install, examine, replace or repair electrical wiring, receptacles, switch boxes, conduits, feeders, fibre-optic and coaxial cable assemblies, lighting fixtures and other electrical components
• Test electrical and electronic equipment and components for continuity, current, voltage and resistance
• Maintain, repair, install and test switchgear, transformers, switchboard meters, regulators and reactors
• Maintain, repair, test and install electrical motors, generators, alternators, industrial storage batteries and hydraulic and pneumatic electrical control systems
• Troubleshoot, maintain and repair industrial, electrical and electronic control systems and other related devices
• Conduct preventive maintenance programs and keep maintenance records
• May install, maintain and calibrate industrial instrumentation and related devices.

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.

• Completion of a four- or five-year industrial electrician apprenticeship program or A combination of over five years of work experience in the trade and some high school, college or industry courses in industrial electrical equipment is usually required to be eligible for trade certification.

• Trade certification for industrial electricians is compulsory in Prince Edward Island, Quebec and the Yukon, and available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba.

• Interprovincial trade certification (Red Seal) is also available to qualified industrial electricians.

• Trade certification for marine electricians is available, but voluntary, in New Brunswick.

• Trade certification for mine electricians is available, but voluntary, in Nova Scotia.