Red seal trade program

The Red Seal Program, formally known as the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program, is a program that sets common standards to assess the skills of tradespeople across Canada. Industry is heavily involved in developing the national standard for each trade. It is a partnership between the federal government and provinces and territories, which are responsible for apprenticeship training and trade certification in their jurisdictions.

Tradespersons who have successfully passed the Red Seal examination receive a Red Seal endorsement on their provincial/territorial trade certificate. The Red Seal, when affixed to a provincial or territorial trade certificate, indicates that a tradesperson has demonstrated the knowledge required for the national standard in that trade. The Red Seal endorsement promotes excellence to employers, instills pride in skilled workers, and facilitates labor mobility. Certification and Red Seal endorsement of a tradesperson can be confirmed with the provincial or territorial apprenticeship authority that issued the Red Seal.

The Red Seal Program was created following the first National Conference on Apprenticeship in Trades and Industries, which was held in Ottawa in 1952. Participants recommended that the provinces and territories ask the federal government to work with their apprenticeship committees and officials to prepare standards for the skilled trades.