A welder by trade, a teacher at heart: OPG’s Erik Dickerson shares the passion

His aptitude with the welding stick eventually got him into the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, and he spent his Grade 11 and 12 years as a full-time apprentice at Atomic Energy Canada Limited’s (AECL) Chalk River nuclear research facility.

After finishing college, he returned to AECL before making the jump to Darlington Nuclear as a welder and steamfitter. His career path eventually took him to Pickering Nuclear and then onto OPG’s hydroelectric operations.

Today, Dickerson continues to ply his trade as a Trades Management Supervisor at OPG’s Chats Falls Generating Station (GS), located near his home in Pembroke. Soon, he will be taking up a new role at Des Joachims GS, upstream of Chats Falls, supervising contractor partners and building trades unions as the station undergoes refurbishment.

“When I grab that welding helmet and strike an arc, I zone out and I’m in this world where nothing else is happening. It’s a skillset that requires 100% of every motor skillset of a human being. It’s very calming for my mind.”

Outside of work, his driving passion has been helping young people experience this same feeling and find their own calling in the skilled trades.

Whether it’s visiting shop classes in local high schools, attending trades shows, or leading training courses, Dickerson loves to teach and show others what can be possible.

“I tell kids, ‘I was once in your shoes.’ And I share my journey, what I’ve done, and say this is what you can do. These are the trades you might want to look into and get focused on.”

Recently, he met a young woman who learned how to weld by watching YouTube videos. Seeing her potential, Dickerson helped her towards her dream of becoming a welder.

With his support, she applied for and received multiple bursaries and is now studying for her trade certificate at Canadore College, Dickerson’s alma mater.

“She went through the same path as I did,” Dickerson reflects. “Every time I do a lecture, I share her story as an example. A young lady who pushed herself to a spot where she never thought she could be.”

Looking back, Dickerson wonders how his life would have turned out had his dad not taken him to check out his neighbour welding in that garage.

As it stands, he’s happy he was able to find a hobby, a passion, and an obsession that allowed him to never work a day in his life.

“When you become obsessed with something you love, it’s no longer work anymore,” he said. “You want to do it, you crave it, and you get paid to do it. Now I tell kids, if you find a skill that you love and enjoy, and follow that skillset into a career pathway, you might end up not working a day in your life.”