Exam guides / Red Seal Welder
The national welder exam has 125 multiple-choice questions, four hours, and a 70% pass mark. Welding processes are 54 of those questions. There is no Hesson practice app for this trade yet, so the page collects a waitlist.
Red Seal endorsement for Welder. Ontario's trade code on the Skilled Trades Ontario page is the welder certificate of qualification. Alberta lists a three-period apprenticeship.
Exam facts
Red Seal welder questions are multiple choice with four options and one correct answer. red-seal.ca assigns 125 questions. The national preparation guide sets a 70% pass mark and four hours.
125. Common occupational skills 20, layout and fabrication 28, cutting and gouging 23, welding processes 54.
SMAW 18, FCAW/MCAW/GMAW 18, GTAW 13, SAW 5. The communication task inside common skills is listed at 0 questions.
Knowledge and recall about 40 to 50%. Procedural and application about 35 to 45%. Critical thinking about 10 to 20%.
Four hours and 70%. The sitting provides the booklet, diagrams if needed, formulas, acronyms, a pencil, an eraser, a calculator if needed, and a bubble sheet. The welder formula list on red-seal.ca is short: circle, triangle, arc length, and cylinder volume, plus pi.
Fees are provincial. Alberta also publishes a separate practical-exam fee for the trades qualifier route.
Certifying exam, no waiver
Skilled Trades Ontario lists the exam fee as $150 + HST. A failed attempt has a 30-day wait, and the fee is paid again before rescheduling.
HST is extra on the published amount.
Completed Ontario apprentice, first-attempt waiver
Apprentices who complete an Ontario program on or after 1 January 2025 get a fee waiver on the first written certifying exam. Later attempts are $150 + HST. The waiver does not cover practical exams. Apprentices who completed before 1 January 2025 are not eligible.
HST is extra on the published amount.
Trade qualifier
$235.00
The Trade Equivalency Assessment that a trade qualifier must pass before challenging the certifying exam costs $235 + HST. A reassessment costs $100 + HST.
HST is extra on the published amount.
Trade qualifier
$100.00
A reassessment costs $100 + HST.
HST is extra on the published amount.
Apprenticeship certification exam
SkilledTradesBC's apprenticeship table lists no fee for the 1st or 2nd certification-exam attempt. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th attempts are $100 and have extra conditions (a study plan, then proof of upgrading, then contact from the completions team). Rewrites have a 30-day wait.
Trade qualifier challenge
The challenge table lists $120 for the 1st attempt, no fee for the 2nd, and $100 for the 3rd and 4th. From 1 December 2023, trade qualifiers are limited to four writes. The 3rd attempt needs advisor approval. The 4th needs proof of upgrading.
Missed or late-cancelled sitting
$100.00
A separate $100 exam rescheduling fee applies if you miss a scheduled exam or cancel within 30 days.
Trades qualifier practical
$160.00
The Alberta welder profile lists a successful practical exam at $160 for the trades qualifier route (work experience or a recognized credential). That figure is the practical exam, not the written Red Seal application.
Apprentice in a Red Seal trade
No dollar total
Alberta does not publish a separate Red Seal or C of Q exam fee for apprentices. Apprentices in Red Seal trades write the Red Seal exam at their school after they pass the final period exam, so the exam is part of classroom instruction. The Apprenticeship Education Program application fee is $150.
Alberta Tradesecrets apply online
TO-CONFIRM. Alberta does not publish a separate Red Seal or C of Q exam fee for apprentices. Apprentices in Red Seal trades write the Red Seal exam at their school after they pass the final period exam, so the exam is part of classroom instruction. The Apprenticeship Education Program application fee is $150.
Trades Qualifier
No dollar total
Trades Qualifier program application fee runs $150 to $450 depending on the program. The first attempt at the theory exam is included in that application fee. Alberta says a new exam rewrite fee is required for a Trades Qualifier second attempt but does not publish the amount on the page. Practical exam fees vary by trade and must be paid before the exam is scheduled. Trades Qualifier candidates get three theory exam attempts. Failing the third attempt cancels the application; to continue you must file a new application with fees and a Training Plan.
Alberta trades qualifier exams
TO-CONFIRM. Alberta says a new exam rewrite fee is required for a Trades Qualifier second attempt but does not publish the amount on the page. Practical exam fees vary by trade and must be paid before the exam is scheduled.
TO-CONFIRM. Trades Qualifier candidates get three theory exam attempts. Failing the third attempt cancels the application; to continue you must file a new application with fees and a Training Plan.
Already certified, writing the Red Seal later
$150.00
Alberta lists the Interprovincial Red Seal Application at $150 for certified journeypersons and qualification certificate holders who apply later to write the Red Seal exam. After two unsuccessful attempts at the same eligible exam with a mark of at least 60% on one attempt, you must complete and get approval for an AIT Training Plan before an extra attempt is allowed. For the Red Seal exam written later by a certified journeyperson, two or more prior Red Seal attempts means you must provide at least 40 hours of additional study or upgrading with your application. An unsuccessful Red Seal exam cancels the application and a new application with fee is required.
Open the fee and rewrite calculator
Red Seal fees and rewrite rules for Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia
Apprenticeship completion is the common path. Experienced workers use the provincial challenge or qualifier route. Read that page before you count hours.
TO-CONFIRM. Alberta does not publish a separate Red Seal or C of Q exam fee for apprentices. Apprentices in Red Seal trades write the Red Seal exam at their school after they pass the final period exam, so the exam is part of classroom instruction. The Apprenticeship Education Program application fee is $150.
TO-CONFIRM. Alberta says a new exam rewrite fee is required for a Trades Qualifier second attempt but does not publish the amount on the page. Practical exam fees vary by trade and must be paid before the exam is scheduled.
Plan on the materials the national guide says are handed out. Your provincial office can add an identification rule or a practical-test rule that this page does not cover.
Names of the public syllabus sections, so you can follow the official PDF. This is not a copy of the syllabus.
Study plan
Both plans were written here. They are not issued by SOPEEC, Red Seal, or a provincial regulator. Ticks stay in this tab only. Put them on a calendar.
Four weeks with half the time on processes, because that block is 54 of 125. Not an official plan.
Eight weeks. Processes get three of them.
04 / Sample questions
Pending review
Written for this site and pending review by a qualified person. Not past exam items, not copied from a code book, and not an official or certified exam bank. The interactive quiz needs JavaScript. The questions and answers are also in the page.
Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) uses which kind of electrode?
A. A flux-covered consumable electrode
SMAW uses a flux-covered consumable electrode. GTAW uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode and a separate filler when filler is needed. This is a naming question, not a procedure from a code book.
Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is built around:
B. A non-consumable tungsten electrode and a shielding gas
GTAW holds an arc from a tungsten electrode under a shielding gas. SAW hides the arc under flux. Knowing which name is which is worth more on this exam than a shop nickname.
How many of the 125 welder questions are in the welding-processes block?
D. 54
red-seal.ca assigns 54 questions to welding processes, 28 to layout and fabrication, 23 to cutting and gouging, and 20 to common occupational skills.
The national welder exam's published time and pass mark are:
B. 4 hours and 70%
The Red Seal preparation guide says four hours and 70% for Red Seal exams. The 65% figure belongs to the power engineer papers, not this one.
The heat-affected zone is:
B. The base metal next to the weld whose properties the weld heat changed
The heat-affected zone is base metal that did not melt but was changed by the welding heat. This definition is for study. It is not a quotation from a CSA standard and not an official exam item.
Oxy-fuel gas cutting is abbreviated on the Red Seal welder page as:
A. OFC
The breakdown uses OFC for oxy-fuel gas cutting, PAC for plasma arc cutting, and CAC-A for air carbon arc cutting. Those abbreviations are also on the acronym list provided at the sitting.
In Ontario, the welder certificate of qualification:
B. Does not have to be renewed, because the trade is non-compulsory
Skilled Trades Ontario says the welder trade is non-compulsory, the certificate does not have to be renewed, and practitioners are not placed on the public register for that reason. 313A is the compulsory trade with an annual renewal.
The Alberta welder profile lists the trades qualifier practical exam at:
D. $160
The profile lists the practical exam at $160 for both the work-experience qualifier and the recognized-credential qualifier. The $150 figure is the separate Red Seal application on the apply-online page. $89 and $37.75 are power engineer fees.
A valve-protection cap on a compressed-gas cylinder belongs in place when:
B. The cylinder is being stored or moved and is not connected for use
The cap protects the valve when the cylinder is stored or moved and is not in use. Follow the safety data sheet and the shop procedure for the gas you have. This is a study question about that habit, not a copied code clause.
A Red Seal multiple-choice question has:
B. One correct answer and three incorrect options
The welder exam information page says every question has exactly one correct answer and three incorrect options. They are not trick questions, and the wrong options are not always obvious.
FAQ
Not yet. SteamTicket covers power engineering and 313A. SkiLiftQuiz will cover the Ontario ski lift exam. Use the waitlist on this page, tagged for the welder exam, and you will be emailed when a welder practice app launches. No other product is linked.
No. The Red Seal exam described here is the 125-question written exam. Alberta's welder profile also requires a practical exam, listed at $160, on the trades qualifier routes. Ask your provincial office whether your path includes a practical.
That is what the welder exam information page prints for that task. A zero means it is not in the current count. The other common-skills tasks still add up to 20 questions. The page says counts can change, so look again before you write.
No. They were written for this guide. Red Seal's own page has style examples. Those examples are not repeated here.
Last checked 15 October 2026.
TO-CONFIRM. Alberta does not publish a separate Red Seal or C of Q exam fee for apprentices. Apprentices in Red Seal trades write the Red Seal exam at their school after they pass the final period exam, so the exam is part of classroom instruction. The Apprenticeship Education Program application fee is $150.
TO-CONFIRM. Alberta says a new exam rewrite fee is required for a Trades Qualifier second attempt but does not publish the amount on the page. Practical exam fees vary by trade and must be paid before the exam is scheduled.
TO-CONFIRM. Trades Qualifier candidates get three theory exam attempts. Failing the third attempt cancels the application; to continue you must file a new application with fees and a Training Plan.