Red Seal Certification 2026: How to Get It in Canada

What is Red Seal certification, exactly?

It's an endorsement, a seal on your provincial or territorial certificate. Red Seal says it shows you passed the Red Seal exam and have the knowledge the trade's national standard asks for. Since 2015 holders can use the letters RSE, for Red Seal Endorsement.

It isn't a licence on its own. Red Seal is clear that the endorsement doesn't mean a province or territory has certified you to work in a trade. That still comes from your provincial certificate.

Journeyperson vs Red Seal: what's the difference?

A journeyperson certificate (or Certificate of Qualification in Ontario and Nova Scotia) is the provincial credential. The Red Seal is the national endorsement that can sit on it. Most provinces and territories use the Red Seal exam as the final certification exam in Red Seal trades, so in those trades one exam usually gets you both.

In Alberta, if you're certified in a Red Seal trade but don't have the endorsement, you can apply to write the Red Seal exam at any time afterward.

Route 1: through an apprenticeship

Register as an apprentice in a Red Seal trade with your provincial or territorial authority.
Complete the on-the-job hours and technical training your trade requires.
Apply for the certification exam. In Ontario you send a Completion Form signed by you and your sponsor; in Alberta you apply once you've met every requirement for journeyperson certification.
Pass the Red Seal exam with 70% or more.
Get your certificate with the Red Seal endorsement.

Route 2: challenge the exam with experience

If you've worked in the trade but never apprenticed, all four provinces on this site let you apply as a trade qualifier or challenger. They check your hours and evidence first, and only then let you book the exam. The hours, documents and fees differ by province, and so do the number of tries you get.

How to challenge the Red Seal exam →Red Seal exam fees →

Red Seal certification requirements

Red Seal says only that you must meet your province's or territory's exam requirements, and that these can differ by trade and by whether you're an apprentice or a trade qualifier. So check two things before anything else: that your trade is a Red Seal trade where you live, and what your authority asks of your route. Red Seal's contacts page links to all 13 authorities.

The 54 Red Seal trades →Red Seal in Ontario →Red Seal in B.C. →Red Seal in Alberta →

Sources: Red Seal · Skilled Trades Ontario · Alberta AIT and 4 more. Checked October 2026.