Year: 2023
Location: Edmonton
Profile: Jason Beckles trained as a pipefitter in Trinidad & Tobago. In 2008 the Canadian government approved his entry into Canada as one of a group of 6 temporary foreign workers (TFW) who would perform skilled labour for a subcontractor to PCL. He had specialized in fabricating industrial metals for tanks, vessels, piping, pipe structures, steel structures, and plates for on-land and offshore oil and gas production for major international oil and gas companies like Atlantic LNG.
During the 2008 economic crash, the TFWs were returned to Trinidad & Tobago. Beckles returned as a TFW in 2009, a journeyman pipefitter who worked nightshifts outdoors through the winter months alongside other foreign-born TFWs. He later gained his citizenship. Beckles has worked in pipeline construction and installation throughout Alberta, and as a job foreman for crews on industrial sites. He notes the demands of workplace safety, the strain of long periods away from family, and the impact of Covid 19 on work stability.
Keywords: Atlantic LNG; Caribbean oil industry; COVID; Dragline; Journeyman Pipefitter, Ledcor Construction; Personal Protective Equipment; PCL; Shell: Suncor
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See also: Black Communities in Alberta; Caribbean Oil Workers in Alberta; Occupational Health and Safety in Alberta; Oil Workers in Alberta; Temporary Foreign Workers in Alberta