Red Seal Interprovincial Examination Development Process

Red Seal Interprovincial Examinations are part of a framework that determines whether apprentices and trade qualifiers meet the national standard in a particular Red Seal trade. The examinations are regularly updated to maintain their rigour, accuracy and relevance.

Who is involved in the development of Red Seal examinations?

The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) and its sub-committee, the Interprovincial Standards and Examinations Committee (ISEC) are responsible for planning and collaborating on the development of Red Seal standards and examinations.

As part of their apprenticeship and trade certification system, each provincial and territorial apprenticeship authority administers the Red Seal Program. Industry is a key partner and plays an important role in the development of Red Seal examinations.

Staff from all apprenticeship authorities and Employment and Social Development Canada organize and facilitate the development process.

However, the most important people in the process are the qualified tradespersons and apprenticeship technical training providers who take part in workshops and meetings.

All of the content that goes into each examination comes from these highly qualified experts from across Canada.

What are the steps to develop a Red Seal examination?

Selection of participants to attend workshops

Each provincial/territorial apprenticeship authority in Canada nominates participants so there is a good representation from those who work in different regions and with different apprenticeship systems.

Most of the participants at the national workshop are active tradespeople - well-respected experts in the trade with experience in all aspects of the work. People with diverse experiences in the trade are sought to participate in interprovincial examination development.

Instructors from apprenticeship technical training from across the country also participate in these workshops.

Development workshops:

1. National exam development workshop

   Trade experts and instructors from across the country develop a large bank of questions that can be used to generate multiple versions of the Red Seal examinations.

2. Editing workshop

   A group of trade experts go over all of the questions that were developed at the national workshop to make sure they are accurate and to edit them for clarity.

3. Translation validation workshop

   A group of bilingual tradespersons meets to review the translation of examination questions. This makes sure that the French and English are equivalent and correct.

4. Review committees

   Committees of trade experts are organized by provincial and territorial apprenticeship authorities to review the exams again. They review the different versions of the examination to ensure the questions are clear, fair and test the subject matter appropriately.

If you are either a Red Seal tradesperson or an apprenticeship instructor and want to be part of Red Seal examination development, please contact your apprenticeship authority.