About IPE

In High Demand

Power Engineering is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and the demand for qualified Power Engineers is high. The oil and gas industry alone is estimating that they will need thousands of power engineers over the next several years in order to keep up with the demand and business growth.

We collaborate with industry, college and safety authorities across Canada to foster business relations and provide support, continuing education, and networking opportunities to help ensure the demand for qualified power engineers is met.

Power Engineering – Keeping The Lights On

Power Engineering is a multifaceted profession that can include a variety of working environments, industries and positions from trade type work to managerial or consulting.

Power engineering professionals work in private and civil industries everywhere from power plants and factories to refineries and hospitals and everything in between.

From the food we eat to the clothes we wear to the life-saving systems used in hospitals to the heated air in our homes, it all requires enormous amounts of energy. All that energy has to come from somewhere and that is what Power Engineers do.

Using a combination of machines, technology and the laws of thermodynamics, we manipulate heat to produce the power and energy necessary to run any number of processes we rely on as a society to control and enhance the environment we live in. Quite literally, Power Engineers are the people who keep the lights on.

The 8 levels of Power Engineering and Operator Certifications 

1st Class – Can be considered equivalent to Mechanical or Electrical Engineers in theoretical knowledge, with the

hands-on operating experience and expertise in large systems.

2nd Class – Act as relief for 1st Class Engineers and provide supervision for both engineers and contractors on site.

3rd Class – Perform a lot of maintenance and monitor the efficient operation of Coal, Natural Gas and Bio-energy boilers.

4th Class – Perform a lot of field and monitoring work.

5th Class – Small Building Operator or field boiler operation (Manitoba, Sask, Alberta, BC only)

A Class Refrigeration – Can be a Chief Operator in charge of any size of Refrigeration Plant (Ontario only)

B Class Refrigeration – Can be an Operator of any size of refrigeration Plant (Ontario only)

Compressor Operator – Can be an Operator (Ontario only)

Steam traction operator – Can be an Operator (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario only)