Shovel operator

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What does a shovel operator do?

Operates all types of mechanical shovels, backhoes, cranes equipped with a clamshell or dragline bucket, robotic arm excavators, and any other similar excavation equipment on wheels or tracks, fixed or mobile.
This description is drawn from several sources and may be quite different from the definition of the trade given in the Regulation Respecting the Vocational Training of the Workforce in the Construction Industry.

What does it take to become a shovel operator?

DEXTERITY – GOOD PHYSICAL COORDINATION INTEREST in acquiring knowledge related to application of concepts of mathematics, mechanics, hydraulics, and electricity, and the reading of plans and survey monuments

Hourly wage

According to the collective agreements (May 2023)
Between $32.54 and $44.61

Job prospects
Very good

Training
DEP 1,095 hours

Interesting! Which academic program should I take?

Training required:

Diplôme d’études professionnelles – Conduite d’engins de chantier (5220)

Training generally offered in the following regions:

Montérégie
Chaudière-Appalaches
Would you like to know about the program content? Consult Inforoute FPT

Academic prerequisites

There are different options for accessing the training program

HOLD A DIPLOMA

  • Hold a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent

OR

  • Hold a postsecondary diploma, such as a diploma of college studies or a bachelor’s degree

BE AT LEAST 15 YEARS OLD

  • Be at least 15 years old on June 30 of the school year preceding admission to a concurrent admission pilot project or the Trades and Occupations with a Promising Future training path

AND

  • Have reached vocational maturity
  • Have passed the Secondary 2 units in language of instruction, second language, and mathematics 
  • Continue general education (in youth or adult sector) concurrently with the vocational training to acquire the missing Secondary 3 prerequisites in order to obtain the diploma of vocational studies or the secondary school diploma as part of the Trades and Occupations with a Promising Future training path. Authorization from the Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec (MEQ) is required for a student in concurrent admission in Secondary 3 to enter this study program.

BE AT LEAST 16 YEARS OLD

  • Be at least 16 years old on September 30 of the school year during which the person begins the training program

AND

  • Have passed the Secondary 3 units in language of instruction, second language, and mathematics in the study programs established by the MEQ

OR 

  • Have completed recognized equivalent training

OR

  • Hold a training certificate for a semiskilled trade and have passed the required units in language of instruction, second language, and mathematics in Secondary Cycle One in general education in the youth sector or in Secondary 2 in general education in the adult sector

BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD 

  • Be at least 18 years old at the time training begins

AND

  • Have the functional prerequisites: have passed the general development test (GDT)
  • Have the prerequisites specific to the study program concerned

OR

  • Have completed recognized equivalent training
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