Job prospects Derrick Mechanic in Alberta

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "derrick mechanic" in Alberta or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Alberta

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

Good

The employment outlook will be good for Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics (NOC 72400) in Alberta for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

  • Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
  • Several positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Effects of inflation have increased the cost of residential building and non-residential building costs. BuildForce Canada predicts that health care, education services, pipeline, petrochemical, transit, and other infrastructure projects help to sustain construction employment over the near term. As current major projects wind down, projected stronger levels of oil and gas investment help to raise non-residential employment across the remainder of the forecast period.

Here are some key facts about Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics in Alberta:

  • Approximately 12,200 people work in this occupation.
  • Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics mainly work in the following sectors:
    • Oil and gas extraction (NAICS 211): 15%
    • Construction (NAICS 23): 12%
    • Repair and maintenance (NAICS 811): 9%
    • Support activities for mining, oil and gas (NAICS 213): 8%
    • Wood product manufacturing (NAICS 321): 8%
  • 64% of construction millwrights and industrial mechanics work all year, while 36% 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 43 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
  • 8% of construction millwrights and industrial mechanics are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
  • The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
    • Men: more than 95% compared to 53% for all occupations
    • Women: less than 5% compared to 47% for all occupations
  • The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
    • no high school diploma: 6% compared to 10% 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: 16% compared to 19% for all occupations
    • bachelor's degree: less than 5% compared to 21% for all occupations
    • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 9% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Alberta by economic region.

Legend

0 out of 5 stars
Undetermined
1 out of 5 stars
Very limited
2 out of 5 stars
Limited
3 out of 5 stars
Moderate
4 out of 5 stars
Good
5 out of 5 stars
Very good

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "derrick mechanic" in Alberta or across Canada.

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Mining Sector Hiring Forecast

The Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) forecasts that the mining sector will need to hire a total of 1,580 null in Alberta from 2011 to 2021.

The following table shows MiHR’s forecast for the total number of jobs that will need to be filled from 2011 to the given year.

Table on the cummulative hiring forecast for null in Alberta starting from 2011.
Cumulative Hiring Forecast (base year 2011) 2013 2016 2021

Region: Alberta

Occupation:

550 950 1580
Labour Market Information Survey
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