Red Seal Certificate Ontario 2026: Exams, Fees, Next Steps

How do apprentices get a Red Seal certificate in Ontario?

Make sure your logbook or schedule of training is up to date, and tell your sponsor you're finishing.
Send the Apprenticeship Completion Form, signed by you and your sponsor, through the STO Portal or by email.
Get your Certificate of Apprenticeship and, in trades with an exam, a Provisional Certificate of Qualification, valid for one year while you prepare.
Book your exam in the STO Portal. Your first attempt is free with a completed training agreement.
Pass with 70% or more to get your Certificate of Qualification.

Writing the exam in Ontario

You book a date, time and location in the STO Portal and write at one of Skilled Trades Ontario's onsite exam locations, on the rsexam.ca system. The account email arrives 7 to 14 days before. Exams are in English or French only, and dictionaries in both are provided; you can ask to bring your own foreign-language dictionary. If you don't pass, you wait 30 days and pay the exam fee again.

Red Seal exam fees →Rewrite rules →

Compulsory trades

Ontario has 23 compulsory trades, including Plumber, Electrician, Steamfitter and Hairstylist. To work in one, you need a valid Certificate of Qualification, a Provisional Certificate of Qualification or a registered training agreement. Journeypersons in compulsory trades renew every year.

If you trained outside Ontario

Experience from another country, from another province without a certificate, or from the Canadian Forces goes through the Trade Equivalency Assessment. You need experience at least equal to the trade's total training time and proof you can do its skills. If you're approved, you write the same certifying exam.

How to challenge the Red Seal exam →

Sources: Red Seal · Skilled Trades Ontario and 6 more. Checked October 2026.