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Mentorship, motivation propel Métis worker up the career ladder

Published: July 30, 2019

First graduate of Enbridge’s Indigenous Inspector-in-Training program to earn pipeline craft inspector certification

“Eye-opening.”

“Life-changing.”

That’s how 25-year-old Troy Glowachuk, a member of the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF), describes the past 15 months of his life.

It began in April 2018 with a visit to the MMF career development office in Winnipeg to discuss a potential carpentry apprenticeship. Glowachuk had been working as a pipefitter and had done some electrical work, but hadn’t really found his niche.

The advisor floated the idea of applying for Enbridge’s two-week Pipeline 101 training-to-employment program, which featured both classroom and hands-on instruction. Scoring 100% on the final exam caught the eye of Enbridge and earned Glowachuk and a few other Indigenous candidates an opportunity to build on their introduction to the world of pipeline construction.

So shortly thereafter, he made the journey from his home in Lorette, MB to Regina to complete Enbridge’s Inspector-in-Training program. From August to December, Glowachuk was deployed on the Line 3 Replacement Program (L3RP) in Morden, MB, learning on the job and shadowing a certified pipeline inspector.

Both the Pipeline 101 and Inspector-in-Training programs were fully funded by Enbridge as a means of maximizing Indigenous workforce participation in the L3RP.

“I always wanted to get involved in the oil industry, even back in high school,” Glowachuk explains. “I thought I would try to work on the oil rigs. I just never got out to Alberta to do it, so now I had an opportunity to get involved in pipelines with the support of the Manitoba Metis Federation, which I’m very grateful for.”

As with anyone in a new job, at first he wasn’t sure what to expect.

But after a couple of months on the job under an inspector, Glowachuk was given an opportunity to work independently on some smaller jobs. When his supervisors praised him for the detail of his daily reports, work ethic and dedication to learn the role of craft inspector, it was a big boost in confidence, Glowachuk says. And when they then recommended he apply to write an API 1169 exam to become a fully certified inspector, he was eager to do so.

So he hit the books—passing two additional Enbridge-sponsored construction inspector exams, applying for and being accepted to write the API exam. His determination was exemplified by the test practices he conducted almost daily between December and writing the API exam in April.

Nine weeks later, after he’d returned to Enbridge for the pipeline right-of-way reclamation work now underway in southwest Manitoba, Glowachuk learned he’d passed the test and is now fully qualified as a pipeline craft inspector anywhere in North America.

“They’re pretty modest out here but I’d really like to hammer home the point that without the leadership and mentorship I got from the Enbridge team, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Glowachuk says. “The leadership I’ve received here (on construction spread No. 9) is second to none.”

Glowachuk is the first graduate of the L3RP Indigenous Inspector-in-Training program to earn API 1169 certification. Six more candidates, including one female, are expected to write the exam this year.

“I don’t know that I would have initially seen this as a career, but I really enjoy the work and the foremen and crews I’ve gotten to know personally,” Glowachuk remarks. “It’s more than just showing up for work, putting in your time and going home.”

Having established his own company, TNG Pipeline Consulting Ltd., Glowachuk is looking forward to more pipeline work—including the Trans Mountain Expansion project—when the L3RP is complete.

(TOP PHOTO: Troy Glowachuk, right, consults with SA Energy foreman Jeff Suderman on the Line 3 Replacement right-of-way. Glowachuk is the first graduate of Enbridge's Indigenous Inspector-in-Training program to earn full certification as a pipeline craft inspector.)

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