The Interprovincial Standards (Red Seal) Program

1. Introduction

The apprenticeship program in each province and territory leads to a journeyperson certificate*.  People who have a journeyperson certificate* can obtain a Red Seal endorsement in forty-five trades by passing an interprovincial “Red Seal” examination.

With a Red Seal endorsement, the journeyperson certificate* is automatically recognized in any province or territory that also issues a journeyperson certificate* for that trade. This means that individuals will not be required to write a separate journeyperson certificate* examination for that province or territory in order to work there.

Individuals can write the interprovincial examination for Red Seal trades when they have completed their apprenticeship technical training and have gained a specified amount of trade-related experience. Some provinces and territories use the interprovincial examination for the journeyperson certificate*, allowing individuals to qualify for both the journeyperson certificate* and the Red Seal endorsement at the same time.

The Red Seal Program encourages common standards for trades in all the provinces and territories. It is designed to extend the benefits of training across all provinces and territories. As well, it alleviates barriers to labour mobility for workers in the skilled trades.  It also reduces the risk of skill shortages by allowing qualified workers to seek work in other provinces/territories.

Benefits of obtaining a Red Seal endorsement:

1. Your trade certification is recognized in other provinces/territories when seeking work elsewhere in Canada. 
2. A Red Seal on your journeyperson certificate* confirms that you have achieved a nationally recognized level of competency in your trade.
3. It qualifies you to seek work in other provinces and territories.
   
   * The term for trade certification varies by province and territory.
    
   Here are more sites with details about the Red Seal Program:
   
   http://www.red-seal.ca/Site/index_e.htm
   http://www.tradesecrets.org/forms_publications/brochures/pdf/redseal_summer2002.pdf
   http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/aet/apprent/apprenticeshiptrades/redsealtrades.htm