NDT Simulator & Practical NDT Training in Saskatchewan

Atlantis built the first-ever online practical NDT simulation portal for practice and hands-on experience, and Saskatchewan is a province where that kind of practice pays off. The Atlantis Practical NDT simulator is an immersive, 3D, game-like platform that runs in a browser or app. Technicians walk into a virtual NDT lab, welding workshop, aircraft hangar, oil and gas site or full-size storage tank, pick up a job, set up the technique, scan or interpret, and get a score the moment the job is closed. Saskatchewan's inspection work is spread across a very large and thinly populated map: heavy oil around Lloydminster, light oil in the southeast, a major refinery and a steel pipe mill in Regina, potash mines and mills across the centre and east of the province, uranium mines and mills in the far north, coal and gas-fired power plants, and thousands of kilometres of crude oil and gas pipelines. Technicians often drive hours between jobs and may go weeks without touching a particular method. Practical NDT gives them a way to keep their hands and eyes sharp between assignments, at any level from first-week trainee to working Level III, without booking lab time or using up specimens.

This page is the Saskatchewan hub for Practical NDT. It covers where Saskatchewan's NDT work actually happens, how the simulator's environments and methods map onto that work, the regulators and codes Saskatchewan technicians deal with, and an honest explanation of what a simulator can and cannot do for certification. If you want to see it with your own crew's jobs in mind, request a Practical NDT demo for Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan's NDT workforce and where the work is

Saskatchewan's NDT work is driven by four resource systems: oil and gas, potash, uranium and power. Each sits in a different part of the province and asks for a different mix of methods, so a technician's week can look very different in Lloydminster than it does in Esterhazy or at a northern mine site.

Regina and the south. Regina is the provincial capital and the province's main heavy-industry centre. The Co-op Refinery Complex on the city's north side is one of the larger refineries in Western Canada, with the usual refinery inventory of pressure vessels, heat exchangers, fired heaters, alloy piping and tankage, and periodic turnarounds that bring in large inspection crews. Regina is also home to a steel mill and pipe-making operation that produces line pipe and tubular products, which means weld and plate inspection in a manufacturing setting. Fabrication shops, agricultural equipment manufacturers and pipeline service companies round out the city's industrial base. Further south, Moose Jaw hosts a military flying training base and a mix of processing and manufacturing.

The southeast oil patch. Around Estevan, Weyburn and Carlyle, the Saskatchewan portion of the Bakken and other light-oil plays support wells, batteries, gas plants, gathering lines and the service companies that build and maintain them. The Weyburn area has long been known for enhanced oil recovery using carbon dioxide, and the coal-fired Boundary Dam station near Estevan includes one of the world's first commercial-scale carbon capture units. That combination produces steady demand for weld inspection on new facilities and pipelines, corrosion monitoring on production equipment, and boiler and pressure-part inspection at power plants.

Lloydminster and the west. Lloydminster straddles the Alberta border and is the centre of Canada's conventional heavy oil industry. Thermal heavy-oil projects, a heavy oil upgrader on the Saskatchewan side, and an asphalt refinery on the Alberta side generate high-temperature service, erosion, sand-laden production and steam-generation equipment, along with dense field pipeline networks. Thickness surveys, corrosion mapping and tank inspection are everyday work here.

The potash belt. Saskatchewan holds a very large share of the world's known potash reserves. Conventional underground mines and solution mines stretch from the Esterhazy and Rocanville area in the east, through Lanigan, Allan, Cory and Vanscoy around Saskatoon, to Belle Plaine west of Regina, and new capacity has been under construction near Jansen. Potash mills are hard on equipment: brine, chlorides and abrasive slurries attack tanks, piping, crystallizers, evaporators and structural steel. Hoist and headframe structures, dryers and steam systems all need regular inspection.

Saskatoon. Saskatoon is the headquarters city for much of the province's mining industry and an engineering, manufacturing and research centre, home to the Canadian Light Source synchrotron at the University of Saskatchewan. Many inspection, engineering and fabrication firms serving potash and uranium operate from here.

The north. The Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan hosts the world's highest-grade uranium deposits, with mines and mills reached by long roads or fly-in rotations. Pulp, forestry and the Prince Albert area add mill work further south. Remote rotations make it hard to keep any kind of practice routine, which is exactly where a browser-based simulator fits.

Practical NDT by city in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan's two largest cities each have their own Practical NDT page with more local detail. The table below links them and adds the other major work centres, mapped to the environments and methods that fit.

Regina. Regina's inspection work is dominated by the refinery and by manufacturing. Refinery turnarounds call for exchanger tube inspection, alloy verification on piping circuits, thickness surveys and tank work, so IRIS, PMI and the Storage Tank environment are the obvious starting points for plant crews. The pipe and steel mill side of the city leans toward automated and manual UT of welds and plate, along with RT and MT on fabricated products. Regina technicians who also work pipeline construction can use the Welding Workshop to keep girth-weld RT interpretation and PAUT sizing current. See the Practical NDT Regina page for more.

Saskatoon. Saskatoon is where many potash and uranium engineering and maintenance decisions are made, and where a large share of the province's fabrication and inspection firms are based. Work is varied: tank and vessel thickness surveys in corrosive brine service, MT and PT on mill structures and rotating-equipment components, weld inspection on new fabrication, and MFL floor screening on large process tanks. The NDT Lab is useful for new hires coming out of local trades and technical programmes. See the Practical NDT Saskatoon page.

Lloydminster. Heavy oil production brings sand, heat and steam. Erosion in production piping, corrosion under insulation and thinning in steam lines make UT and PAUT corrosion mapping routine, while LRUT guided-wave screening is useful on long runs of above-ground and road-crossing pipe. Tank farms at batteries and terminals add MFL floor screening. Lloydminster technicians often split time between the two provinces, so a portable practice tool is handy.

Estevan and the southeast. New facility construction and pipeline tie-ins keep RT and UT of welds in steady demand, and gas plants add TOFD and PAUT work on pressure welds. Power stations in the area bring boiler-tube and pressure-part inspection, where thickness surveys and surface methods matter. The Welding Workshop and Oil & Gas Site together cover most of what a southeast crew sees in a year.

The potash belt. Mill technicians and contract inspectors work in highly corrosive conditions, often on large fibreglass, rubber-lined and steel tanks, piping and structures. Steel tank shell thickness surveys and floor screening map well to the Storage Tank environment, while MT, PT and VT on structural welds, hoist components and supports map to the NDT Lab and Welding Workshop.

Environments and methods that match Saskatchewan work

Practical NDT has five workplace environments, twelve methods and 33 guided lessons. In Saskatchewan the mix leans heavily toward process-plant, tank and weld work, with a smaller aerospace and manufacturing share.

Oil & Gas Site (73 jobs). This is the environment closest to a Saskatchewan refinery, upgrader, gas plant or battery. It covers weld, corrosion, tube and screening practice in a process plant: contact UT and PAUT corrosion mapping on piping and vessels, TOFD on pressure welds, IRIS internal rotary UT on exchanger and boiler tubes, LRUT guided-wave screening on long pipe runs, and PMI alloy verification on alloy circuits. For Regina turnaround crews and Lloydminster heavy-oil technicians it is the core of the library.

Storage Tank. Saskatchewan's oil batteries, terminals, refinery tank farms and potash mills all run large tank inventories. The Storage Tank environment covers UT shell thickness surveys and MFL floor screening on a full-size tank, the same work that fills many technicians' summers.

Welding Workshop (52 jobs). Weld coupons and fabrication joints support RT film and digital image interpretation, UT and PAUT flaw sizing, TOFD, MT and VT against acceptance criteria. This fits the fabrication shops of Regina and Saskatoon, pipe and steel manufacturing, and the pipeline and facility construction season across the south.

NDT Lab (52 jobs). Bench specimens and reference blocks build the fundamentals: calibration, probe handling, sensitivity setting, scan coverage and indication recognition. New trainees and anyone preparing for a practical examination under any scheme will spend time here.

Aircraft Hangar (54 jobs). Saskatchewan's aviation sector is smaller than its resource sector, but it is real: northern air services that support mines and remote communities, agricultural aviation, air ambulance, maintenance shops in Regina and Saskatoon, and military flying training at Moose Jaw. Eddy current, penetrant and UT on airframe and component jobs are the relevant skills.

Across the twelve methods, surface methods (PT, MT, VT) cover most mill and structural work; volumetric methods (UT contact, PAUT, TOFD, RT) carry weld and corrosion assessment; electromagnetic methods (ET, MFL) serve aviation and tank floors; and the specialist techniques (LRUT, IRIS, PMI) match what refinery, upgrader and plant integrity programmes ask for.

Regulators and requirements Saskatchewan technicians meet

Short answer: NDT personnel certification in Canada is national, radiation sources are federally licensed, and pressure equipment and provincial pipelines are regulated by the province. Practical NDT is a practice tool that is useful under any of these schemes, and it does not replace any of them.

National NDT certification. The national NDT personnel certification scheme in Canada is based on CAN/CGSB-48.9712, the Canadian adoption of ISO 9712, and many Saskatchewan employers expect technicians to hold Level 1, 2 or 3 certification under it. The Canadian General Standards Board, which published the standard, closed on 1 April 2026; Natural Resources Canada's NDT Certification Body has said it continues to operate and the standard remains valid, but confirm the current certification body and arrangements before planning a route. Some employers, particularly US-owned operators and contractors working to US codes, also maintain written practices based on ASNT SNT-TC-1A. This is market context. Atlantis training aligns with ASNT SNT-TC-1A only, and Atlantis does not train toward, certify or administer the CGSB/ISO 9712 scheme.

Radiation safety. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) licenses radioactive sources used for industrial radiography, and only a CNSC-certified exposure device operator, or a trainee under direct supervision, may operate a gamma exposure device. The CNSC also regulates uranium mining and milling, which is relevant for technicians who work at northern sites. X-ray equipment falls under provincial radiation health and safety legislation. Practical NDT's RT jobs involve no radiation source and do not count toward exposure device operator certification.

Pressure equipment. The Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan (TSASK) administers the province's boiler and pressure vessel safety programme, including design registration, inspection and related requirements. Codes commonly met in Saskatchewan plants include CSA B51, ASME Section V and Section VIII, ASME B31.1 and B31.3, and API 510, 570 and 653 for in-service inspection.

Pipelines. Provincially regulated pipelines are licensed by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources under The Pipelines Act, 1998, with Directive PNG034, the Saskatchewan Pipelines Code, and CSA Z662 setting technical requirements, including for weld examination. Interprovincial and international lines that cross the province fall under the Canada Energy Regulator. Structural and fabrication work commonly references CSA W59 and CSA W47.1, again as context rather than anything Atlantis certifies.

For trainees, working technicians and Level IIIs in Saskatchewan

Practical NDT adapts to three kinds of user, and each has a distinct problem in Saskatchewan.

New trainees. Saskatchewan's trainees often come into NDT from welding, millwright, power engineering or general trades backgrounds, and the hardest thing to get is enough hands-on time before the first field job. Hours on real equipment are limited by specimen availability, supervisor time and, for much of the year, cold weather. Guided fundamentals in the NDT Lab let a trainee repeat calibration, angle-beam setup, scan coverage and indication interpretation as often as they need, with instant feedback, so their first time on a real block is not their first attempt. It is also useful NDT practical exam preparation, as long as everyone understands the real exam still has to be done on real specimens.

Working technicians. The province's work is seasonal and lumpy. Pipeline and facility construction concentrates in the warmer months, refinery and mill turnarounds come in blocks, and rotational schedules at northern mines leave long stretches away from some methods. A technician who spent the winter on tank floors may be asked to run IRIS on an exchanger bundle in the spring. Rare-defect refreshers between assignments, on things like stress corrosion cracking, erosion patterns, lack of fusion and tube pitting, help them arrive ready instead of relearning on the client's equipment.

Level IIIs and team leads. Level IIIs in Regina and Saskatoon can build and assign scenario sets, benchmark crews objectively and find coverage gaps before a campaign. When a turnaround brings in contract technicians from Alberta, Manitoba and beyond, a consistent scenario set gives a like-for-like comparison of who is ready for which method. It also helps a Level III check whether a new procedure is clear before it goes to the field.

Practice vs certification

Practical NDT is a practice and readiness tool. It is not a certification, it does not grant a level under CAN/CGSB-48.9712, ASNT SNT-TC-1A or any employer's written practice, and it does not replace the practical examination on real specimens that those schemes require. It does not satisfy CNSC exposure device operator requirements. What it adds is realistic repetition: more chances to set up, scan, interpret and get feedback than a lab schedule or a specimen cupboard allows. It complements formal NDT training and on-the-job experience. The formal practical exam is still the step that counts.

Remote work, winters and distance: why a simulator suits Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan's geography is the strongest argument for virtual NDT training in the province. Work sites are spread across hundreds of kilometres of prairie, parkland and boreal forest, and many technicians live in one town and work in several others. Northern uranium operations rely on fly-in rotations, potash mills are scattered across the centre and east, and oil and gas work stretches from the Alberta border to Manitoba.

That spread makes it hard to keep a practice routine. A shop that wants its people to rehearse a PAUT setup or an RT interpretation before a job has to find a free lab, a qualified supervisor and the right specimens, all at the same time. Winters limit outdoor practice for months. And many smaller employers simply do not own the reference blocks and flawed specimens needed to cover rare defects.

A browser-based ultrasonic testing simulator and phased array simulator remove most of that friction. Technicians can practise at home, in a camp room or in the shop office between jobs, subject to connectivity at the site. Supervisors can see scores rather than relying on self-reported confidence. Scenario sets built by a Level III can be pushed to a whole crew before a turnaround starts, so the first morning on site is not spent discovering who is rusty. None of this replaces time on real equipment, but it makes the real time more productive.

Bring Practical NDT to your Saskatchewan team

Atlantis built the first-ever online practical NDT simulation portal for practice and hands-on experience. The scenario library was designed by Anoop Rayavarapu, ASNT NDT Level III and founder of Atlantis NDT, who also leads Atlantis training. Rollout is simple. It starts with a short demo, then a conversation about your work, whether that is a Regina refinery turnaround crew, a Saskatoon fabrication and inspection firm, a potash mill maintenance group, a Lloydminster heavy-oil contractor or a southeast pipeline crew. Together we choose the environments and methods that match your jobs, and technicians get access by browser or app wherever they are.

Pricing is quote on request, and the offer is built to be affordable, accessible and fully customizable. Book a Saskatchewan Practical NDT demo, read the Practical NDT overview, or write to info@atlantisndt.com.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an NDT simulator I can use in Saskatchewan?

Yes. The Atlantis Practical NDT simulator runs in a browser or app, so it works anywhere in Saskatchewan with a connection, from Regina and Saskatoon to camp rooms at remote sites. There is no physical centre to visit.

Does Practical NDT count toward CGSB (ISO 9712) certification?

No. It is practice only. Certification under CAN/CGSB-48.9712 requires its own training, experience and examinations, including a practical exam on real specimens. Confirm the current certification body before you plan. The simulator helps you prepare.

Can it help with NDT practical exam preparation?

It can help you build familiarity, speed and confidence with setups, scanning and interpretation before a practical exam. It does not replace the exam or the hands-on hours your scheme or employer requires.

Which Saskatchewan industries is it most useful for?

Refining in Regina, heavy oil around Lloydminster, light oil and gas processing in the southeast, potash milling, power generation, pipeline construction, fabrication and steel manufacturing, and aviation maintenance. Ask for a demo mapped to your sector.

Does it include radiography?

Yes, as technique and image interpretation practice with no radiation source. It does not count toward CNSC exposure device operator certification.

Is it useful for potash mill inspection?

Yes for the underlying skills: UT thickness surveys on tanks and piping, MFL floor screening, and MT, PT and VT on structural welds and components. Mill-specific procedures still come from your employer and Level III.

What experience level is it for?

All levels: guided fundamentals for new trainees, rare-defect refreshers for working technicians, and scenario building and crew benchmarking for Level IIIs and team leads.

Can technicians on northern rotation use it?

Yes, during time off or downtime, subject to the site's connectivity and rules. That is one of the main reasons Saskatchewan employers look at it.

Does Atlantis offer ASNT training in Saskatchewan?

Atlantis training follows ASNT SNT-TC-1A and is delivered online, live-virtual or onsite at the client's facility. It suits employers working to US codes or for US clients. See NDT training.

How do we start?

Request a demo. We will map the environments and methods to your Saskatchewan work and provide a quote on request.

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