Heavy equipment operators perform some or all of the following duties:

• Operating heavy machinery such as backhoe excavators, bulldozers, loaders and graders for digging, moving, loading and leveling earth, rock, gravel and other materials during construction or related work;
• Operating a bulldozer or other heavy equipment to clearing and grubbing before logging and open pit mining;
• Operating machines equipped with bell buttons to drive pillars supporting buildings, bridges or other structures;
• Operating dredges to dig the bed of streams and extracting backfill materials;
• Operating various heavy machinery to extend, spread or compress concrete, asphalt or other coating materials during the construction of roads or highways;
• Operating electric excavators to remove rock, ore or other material from an open pit mine, an excavator mine, a quarry or a construction excavation;
• Operating heavy equipment to move, load and unload ship cargo;
• Carry out checks before use, clean, lubricate and refill the tanks.

• Some years of high school are required.
• A one-to-two-year apprenticeship program or specialized training in the school or industry, heavy equipment driving and on-the-job training are required.
• The certificate of qualification is mandatory in Quebec and is offered, although voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
• The success of an internal review may be required by the employer.