In recent years, it would seem as though construction is everywhere. But what does that mean for employment? With the construction industry, it means many machines operating and working hard to keep projects running. Machines need to stay in good running conditions to ensure there is minimal downtime with production. This is where Heavy Duty Mechanics play a vital role. But does this career have stable wages, and opportunities? We hope to answer those questions and show you how this is a great career for those who are self-motivated and driven, love diversity of work and enjoy working with their hands. It also does not require a strenuous educational background.

According to BC statistics, there are about 9,100 heavy duty mechanics covering the construction, mining, quarrying and agriculture sectors. 70% are full time heavy duty mechanics and 30% are part time, which could be positions such as rotation and remote work. It is forecast that in the next 10 years, nearly 1,900 positions will become available. 70% of these positions are due to retirees and 30% are attributed to market growth. The demand for these positions offers a stable growth of job openings, and various opportunities for many entering this field. In this industry, 12% of heavy duty mechanics are self employed adding the the quilt of small business in the province of British Columbia. This type of employment can be found all around the province with the highest percent of workers being in the Lower Mainland with 30.1%, followed by Vancouver Island and Coast with 18.3%. These two areas of higher demand attribute to forestry and infrastructure with the ever growing construction projects. 

In order to work in this career you are required to complete apprenticeship training consisting of 6,360 working hours and 28 weeks of technical training over 4 years. Once completed, you will obtain a Red Seal certification equivalent to a 4 year bachelor’s degree. During these first 4 years of Apprenticing you are working, hopefully, with a senior mechanic who is able to guide, train and help you develop the skills and habits of a well rounded heavy duty mechanic. In the course of your training you are paid as an apprentice mechanic, meaning you are paid at a lower wage than a Red Seal Mechanic. On average, as a 1st year mechanic your wage will be around $25 per hour, which happens to be right about the living wage for British Columbia in 2024. That wage will change as you develop in your education and career. Upon completion of each level of education, your wage is to be adjusted and increased accordingly, often a percentage of Red Seal wage. According to BC Stats, the average wage for a Red Seal Heavy Duty Mechanic is $49.10. Wages are consistent and stable across employers and most of your decision of where to work will be the work environment and culture of the company.

Is being a heavy duty mechanic a job fit for you? There are a few differences with the type of mechanic you may want to be. There are shop mechanics who strictly work in a yard or garage and have machines brought to them. Then there are field/mobile mechanics who drive to the broken down machines and service/repair on site. Going to a site makes it all that more adventurous, so depending on what type of work environment you enjoy, that will determine the type of heavy duty mechanic you will want to be. We asked our employees over the years why they go into this role of mobile heavy duty mechanics and why they enjoy it so much. Most answers are consistent across the board. They enjoy the challenge of every day being new, working with their hands and heads, successfully seeing something run (making it a rewarding outcome), and being able to enjoy the outdoors in all weather conditions. 

We love what we do and take pride in it. We believe this is a great industry and trade to go into. We encourage anyone interested in working with us or potentially going into this trade to add us on our social platforms or apply on our Careers page. As a company, we want to help as much as we can to facilitate great work with great employees. We know that if we are not willing to help the younger generation of heavy duty mechanics enter the workforce, we will have a shortage of employees in the near future. At HD Force Maintenance we are a family run company and treat our employees like family.