In the world of commercial diving, there is no such thing as a standard job description. There are three types of divers: commercial scuba divers, unrestricted surface supply divers, and saturation or closed bell divers'each with different levels of schooling, salaries, and tasks to perform.
As a commercial scuba diver, you could be doing anything from inspecting piers in a harbour, assisting on an underwater film set, salmon fishing, or underwater mortality diving'yep, that's searching for dead bodies. Cory Beaudry, owner of Camcor Dive Services in Vancouver and director of BC College of Diving, has been scuba diving for over 20 years and is an expert in the occupational scuba world, having been recently elected a director for the Diver Certification Board of Canada (DCBC). Beaudry's company employs 15 full-time divers and certifies between 8 and 18 scuba divers per year. He notes that entry-level scuba divers earn between $175ÔÇô350 per day, depending on the type of work they are doing and the skills required for the job.
Unrestricted surface supply divers, who are supplied air and communications from an umbilical cord at the surface of the water, rather than carrying tanks, are a level above scuba divers. These divers can go as deep as 165 feet and are the most common type of commercial divers; DCBC certifies more surface supply divers than any other. They are certified to work on projects inshore and offshore, and work on hydroelectric dams, submarine pipelines, bridges, submarine cable, water treatment plants, water intakes, and basically anything that's under the water that needs to be looked at or worked on, says Garth Hiebert, president of Dominion Divers in Winnipeg who has been diving all over the world since 1979.
As a surface supply diver, graduates have the opportunity to work across Canada, as well as the international marketplace in the civil market or oil and gas sector. Whether it is in the oil fields of Mumbai, India; in Singapore; in Hibernia off of our Nova Scotia and Newfoundland coast; or in the historical city of Aberdeen diving offshore in the North Sea, Canadian qualifications are accepted, says Vern Johnston, the director of operations at Diving Dynamics in Kelowna, BC, who has been diving for over 30 years. Divers are very much instrumental in the community, he says. The work that we do, most people don't get to see, but the work is absolutely out there.
Unrestricted surface supply divers earn anything between $35-50 an hour, says Johnston. David Parkes, chief executive officer of DCBC, notes that these divers make about $80,000 a year if they have steady work. The pay is great, but Johnston warns against dollar divers, a term he uses to describe those only interested in the cash. The most important thing for a diver is that they have passion to be there, he says. Courses cost around $20,000 and can be as long as 8 months. Also, in order to become a certified surface supply diver, you need one year of work experience and 50 hours under water, notes Parkes.
The top tier is composed of saturation or closed-bell divers who typically support the exploration and production of offshore oil and gas. According to Parkes, divers can be working at 500 feet, 6 to 8 hours a day, for 21 to 28 days at a time, living in hypobaric chambers in the off-hours. Divers can't be certified in North America; courses are only offered in Scotland, France and Tasmania. Although this level of diving is the most intense, it has its rewards. A 30-day saturation dive offshore in the North Sea would make you around $48,000, says Parkes.
In short, becoming a commercial diver is not a walk in the park swim in the sea. Living and working in close quarters with other divers, training and working at deep depth, maintaining a physically and mentally fit well-being, and travelling away from home for extended periods of time is not the life for everyone.
But with every challenge, comes an advantage (or two). The pressure to maintain a fit body leads to a healthy lifestyle and being away from home is also an opportunity to travel and explore places in the world you wouldn't otherwise visit: Hiebert has worked in Thailand, Norway, Denmark, Alaska, Scotland, and Singapore, to name a few. Also, if you have a passion for recreational diving, you get to be doing what you love everyday'exploring the deep blue sea.
The opportunities for Canadian commercial divers are boundless. Canadian diving schools turn out probably the best divers in the world, notes Hiebert. Canadian-trained divers are sought after, and Canadians, being apolitical, are welcomed in more places around the world.
In addition to finding work outside of Canada, there are opportunities around the Great White North as well. St. John's, Newfoundland is gong to be the future for a lot of young people in the diving sectors, notes Johnston. There's immense opportunity there.
In Canada, there are less than 60 newly certified unrestricted surface supply divers every year, and we, as Canadians, cannot supply enough divers to our own marketplace, adds Johnston. Beaudry boasts a 100 per cent hiring rate from his school, and says there is going to be almost a shortfall of divers with the amount of work that is going to be done offshore in Newfoundland. They're going to need 1,000 divers'there's that much work.
Although there is opportunity for divers to be hired, one of the biggest challenges is actually getting your first job and making a name for yourself, adds Hiebert. A guy can come out of school with a card that says he's a diver, but there's a lot to be learned.
If you have a high school diploma, a recreational scuba diving qualification, and are physically fit, exploring the different opportunities commercial diving has to offer could be the right move for you.