TORonTO — Labour Minister Lisa Raitt met with members of the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) on January 7th, to discuss challenges facing the country’s welding industry.

The meeting featured a roundtable that reviewed issues such as worker mobility, creating a national welding education program to address the shortage of welders, and the skills and knowledge gap within the government.

The CWB’s Director of Marketing and Product Development, Ian Campbell described the meeting as “the CWB offering a helping hand (to the government) wher they need it, with respect to welding.”

Raitt, who is the MP for Halton wher the CWB’s headquarters are located, also had strong praise for the health and safety initiatives the group has undertaken.

“I am very pleased to see that organizations such as the CWB Group have made health and safety a key component of their learning system and training courses,” Raitt stated.

“Everyone has a role to play when it comes to promoting safe and healthy workplaces across Canada. That is why we work with provincial and territorial representatives, and employer and employee organizations, to promote the importance of occupational health and safety,” she continued.

The CWB Group is based in Milton, ontario and is Canadas only national welding body, providing welding company certification, welder qualification and training to Canadian standards, as per the Canadian building code.