A pair of properties to his name, a secure, high-paying job and a comfortable outlook for his future.
As a welding manager at just 36 years old, Randeep Sidhu can safely say he’s set.
And he owes much of this to his time at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, where he started his career as an apprentice welder. Over the next 15 years, he climbed the ranks becoming a Red-Seal welder, then supervisor, before succeeding to his current position as welding manager.
These success stories of upward mobility are the norm, rather than an exception to the rule.
And it’s a far cry from three weeks on, one week off in the bitter Alberta cold that Sidhu experienced earlier in his career.
“I know exactly what that feels like – you miss your family, you miss your friends and it’s like you’ve been forgotten about,” Sidhu says. “For the money you can make working at Seaspan, it’s on par with people who are working out in Alberta, Kitimat or whatever camp job they may be at.”
It is precisely these opportunities that are now available through lucrative, long-lasting and meaningful work offered out of Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards in North Vancouver.
This is a career path that sells itself: some of the best-paying union trades jobs in Metro Vancouver; an employer that celebrates the diversity of its people; and shipbuilding projects that will protect Canadian sovereignty and conduct vital climate change research.
To date, more than 450 people have been hired this year alone and more are needed: steel fabricators (known as shipfitters in the industry), sandblasters, pipe fitters, structural welders, pipe welders, electricians, mechanics and machinists.
Whether you’re a Red Seal-certified tradesperson or someone who’s working towards that certification, Seaspan wants to hear from you. On-site training is available, along with apprentice and upskilling programs, and an “improver” initiative that helps you attain your Red Seal designation while you work.
Stephanie Purvis is another example of putting the time in the trades before leveling up into management. And like Sidhu, she honed her trades skills along the way before recently taking on a supervisor role in the electrical team.
“We have work all the way up until at least 2040, with the prospect of getting more contracts after that,” Purvis says. “For younger people, this could definitely be a retirement plan for them.”
Jim Favreau says he is also passionate about supporting the apprentice program at Seaspan. "My career started 45 years ago as a ship fitting graduate apprentice,” he says. Favreau is now senior vice president of operations at Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards.
Seaspan is proud to be Canada’s long-term, strategic shipbuilding partner for the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy, delivering on the promise of ships built in Canada, by Canadians, while creating jobs and rebuilding the nation’s domestic shipbuilding industry.
The company is currently building two Joint Support Ships for the Royal Canadian Navy, which are the longest naval ships ever constructed in Canada.
Seaspan is also building an Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV) for the Canadian Coast Guard. Equipped with the latest scientific research apparatus, the OOSV will be able to meet its crucial mission to increase our overall understanding of the impact that climate change has on the oceans.
Simply put, these are jobs that can last decades and lead to management and leadership positions over time.
If you’re ready to build your future, visit www.seaspan.com/the-future-is-yours-to-build.
