Kevin Burchill knew from the time he was in Grade 8 that he was destined to pursue a career as a tradesperson. While other students chose nature-based science projects, Kevin demonstrated his mechanical aptitude by taking apart and reassembling engines in front of his classmates.

As a teenager growing up on a farm in Merrickville, Ont., Kevin used to do mechanical work and minor repairs on the farm equipment.

Today, as a senior heavy equipment mechanic and millwright at the Omya Canada calcium carbonate mine in Perth, halfway between Ottawa and Kingston, Kevin still gets a lot of satisfaction from rebuilding or repairing a piece of equipment.

"I've always understood the value of a good tradesperson," Kevin says. "Mechanical ability is absolutely a talent. It's always been a passion of mine."

Toothpaste
Omya Canada operates a plant and open-pit quarry in Perth, where it produces about one million tonnes of calcium carbonate annually. The white slurry, or dry dust, is used in paper production, plastics, paints, rubber for the automotive industry, floor tiling, and in items like toothpaste.

Kevin, 42, worked for 10 years as a heavy equipment mechanic at a gold mine in Yellowknife, and spent several years working in the high Arctic at radar sites for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) northern air defense. He joined Omya Canada in 1995.

The role of a heavy equipment mechanic is closely related to that of a millwright, he explains. A heavy equipment mechanic works on diesel machines, while a millwright is a tradesperson who is experienced in mechanical gearing, transmissions, gearboxes and other mechanical devices.

Kevin acquired many of his millwright skills while working in a gold mine on conventional mining equipment, which is why, when Omya decided to expand and automate its equipment, Kevin decided to become qualified as a millwright.

He studied heavy-duty equipment mechanics at Kemptville College of Agriculture and Technology. At the high school level, he excelled in his machine shop class.

"I was lucky enough that my machine shop teacher and I got along famously, and he'd allow me to come in during my spares and work on the tools."

Physical stamina is also a must, particularly if you are a contractor working 12 to 14-hour days because the job can be physically challenging.

Technology
Keeping up with changes in technology can also be a challenge, as industry moves toward robotics and automation, but the opportunities are bountiful for young people pursuing the millwright trade, he says.

In a field that can pay in excess of $80 an hour in remote locations, the career choice is not hard to make if one has the aptitude for mechanical work.

The average wage for a millwright is between $22 and $30 an hour, but there is a broad wage scale in Ontario, he points out. In areas like Oshawa and Cambridge, millwrights in the automotive industry make in excess of $100,000 annually.

Premiums are paid to tradespeople who are multi-skilled and have multiple licenses.

First-year millwright apprentices can expect to make about 50 per cent of a journeyman's wage. By the second year, apprentices are making 60 to 70 per cent, and by the third year they are making 70 to 90 per cent. The continual increase in wages during an apprenticeship allows an individual to "support a family quite comfortably while learning a trade."

Today, Kevin works a 40-hour week, picks and chooses his overtime hours, which he says he doesn't have much interest in anymore, and enjoys family time with his wife and three teenagers.

Download PDF