journeyperson electrician

apprentice electrician

mechanic

electrical project manager

apprenti électricien

Westcana Electric Inc.

First off, they advertise good health and dental benefits, what they don't tell you is that they don't kick in for an entire year - which also happens to be the length of their probation period (unheard of in my experience.) I read other people say the rrsp matching is good but this was recently cut in half, however the employees who were there before were grandfathered in and make twice as much in rrsp contributions as new employees. The organization and experience in general is best described by another persons review as 'weird'...never enough materials to finish jobs, constant trips to the shop all the way out in Dallas, they make employees drive personal vehicles without reimbursement, obvious favoritism, low moral and high turnover, and like the other reviews say they will lay you off whenever they please with no notice. Would highly recommend steering clear of this place.  

This is a very generous 2-star rating, with the work-life balance and benefits doing some heavy lifting.

Working for Westcana was very typical of working at many other commercial electrical companies. I would have really liked it - except for one major sticking point: there is a huge lack of accountability and integrity at this company.

There is definite favouritism, usually for family members of long-time employees. They get away with bad behaviour and poor workmanship that would be unacceptable for anyone else.

There is no faith that the company or union will have your back if anything goes wrong. Having spoken to other former employees, your best hope of job security at this company is: "Find someone else to blame".

A typical day at work, when I was required was to build and manufacture Motor Control panelbox's. This involved laying out plans, drilling and manufacturing the back panel and container, populating the back panel and container with components required for the job, wiring the components according to the electrical diagrams and plans, finishing and shipping out the container. 
I learned about the electrical trade, and grew my skills in the trade as well. The culture was very much just getting things done, and getting things done right. The hardest part of the job would be doing things i was not taught, and figuring out how to take the best course of action to get the task done.

The day started with planning and prioritizing which task needed to be done. Then divide the crew in several smaller teams that are able to complete those task efficiently.

Before the day is completed, my crew would come together to state important information such as materials required for the next few days, inaccessible areas, or further clarification of instructions.

The hardest part of the job is laying off people. i work with a lot of good guys and its hard to let them go but they all know how it works.

Being able to work in town, with a great crew and paid well was the best experience i had.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Good company all in all.  Was nice working with everyone.  Good supervisors and crews.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Not really anything. Maybe sometimes having to wait for certain materials but that happens everywhere. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Friendly and fun. It was nice to go to work 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Show up. Small meeting. Tasks given. Get to work. Lunch. More work or new task. Clean up. Lock up and go home

The foremen I worked with was very fair in all their decisions.  Also communication was excellent.  They were clear, willing to teach if you were unsure or did not know.  Was an excellent culture to work in both from safety aspect and ability to speak openly on issues of any kind without fear of backlash. The foremen were very knowledgeable and had excellent foresight and planning abilities.  We always were able to be very productive and involved in all aspects of the work.

Low wages, low allowances, generally encourages buying the crappiest material for the job even if it is more fragile and takes longer to install.

Westcana doesn't provide tools so tasks that could go much faster with a few key power tools also go much slower.

I'm not really even complaining. It's nice to work slow. I'd work faster if they paid more, but generally it's a nice balance of no one slave driving you, and both quality worksmanship and mentorship being encouraged.

If they paid more they would get more stars.

a work day here was really good, start with safety meetings and finish with a good hand shake from your lead hands, the coworkers were for the most part really kind and fun people to work with. the hardest part of the job was that I didn't get enough time on the tools , but I learn the names and uses for many of  the parts for the oil and gas industry and some of the installation as well as many other things my superiors were kind to teach me.

Toolbox meeting, discuss any issues of concern and anything new for the day.
Review yesterdays FLHA's. 
Go out in the field to observe the workers and their behaviours. Discuss any issues with the workers.
Upload documentation to the computer and send to HSE manager.
Weekly Safety Meetings
Weekly Site Inspections
The hardest part of my job is sometime it is difficult to reach the worker and get them to adapt to the safety culture.
The most enjoyable part is teaching safety to the guys.

Apart from the RRSP, there’s not much to recommend. Lots of turnover at the top and bottom. In my opinion, not a good place to learn the trade as you may know more than your journeyman or project manager. Morale was very low at the time  I was there. 
Best learning experience was finding out that making a little above industry standards isn’t worth it. Lots of other great companies out there.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Journeyperson electrician 23 salaries reported	$33.96 per hour
Apprentice electrician 1 salary reported	$19.20 per hour
Mechanic 1 salary reported	$40.76 per hour
Electrical project manager 1 salary reported	$88,500 per year
Apprenti électricien 3 salaries reported	$32.33 per hour

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