The Master Electrician exam is the exam the Safety Codes Council (SCC) requires before it certifies an Alberta master electrician under the Certification and Permit Regulation. The Council's exam page describes it as 120 multiple-choice questions in two parts: Part 1, Alberta Acts and Regulations, 50 questions on the documents in its 2024 Exam Kit, and Part 2, the Canadian Electrical Code, 70 questions. Each part has 3.5 hours. To pass you need 60 per cent or more on each part and a 75 per cent average of the two, so a weak part fails the exam whatever the average. It is open book, with the CEC 2024 and the free Exam Kit, and written online under the Council's proctoring software. The exam fee is $150, with a $50 application fee. It is not a Red Seal exam.
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01What is the Alberta Master Electrician certificate?
In Alberta, electrical permits for contracting work are issued to master electricians: under the Permit Regulation a permit issuer may issue an electrical permit to a master electrician for work within the scope of the certificate, and apart from narrow cases such as homeowner permits, that is how electrical work gets a permit. The certificate itself is a certificate of competency under the Safety Codes Act's Certification and Permit Regulation (AR 295/2009), issued by the Safety Codes Council, which administers certification for the electrical discipline.
Section 4 of the Certification and Permit Regulation sets the requirements: an electrician trade certificate under the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act, three years of relevant electrical-industry experience in the five years before you apply, the fee, and at least 75 per cent on an approved Master Electrician exam. The Council's exam page puts the entrance requirements for the exam the same way: a journeyperson electrician trade certificate from Alberta or another province, and work as a journeyperson electrician for three of the last five years. The certificate runs for one year and is renewed each year, and renewal can depend on the code update training the Council requires when a new CEC edition comes in.
The Council's 2024 Annual Report counts 4,484 master electricians. Master electricians certified in another province may be eligible for a separate interprovincial exam instead, which covers Alberta legislation only; this guide is about the full exam.
02What is the Master Electrician exam format?
The Council's Master Electrician Exam page is the rule book. The exam is 120 multiple-choice questions in two parts:
- Part 1, Alberta Acts and Regulations: 50 questions on the documents in the 2024 Exam Kit, among them the Safety Codes Act and its Certification and Permit, Permit, Electrical Code and Administrative Items Regulations, the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act and its regulations, the WCB Employer Handbook, the Occupational Health and Safety employer's guide, the Electrical STANDATA, the Master Electrician Code of Ethics and the Alberta Electrical Utility Code;
- Part 2, Canadian Electrical Code: 70 questions on the CEC, Part I, 26th edition (2024).
Each part has a 3.5-hour limit, seven hours in all, and you may take a one-hour break between the parts. Once you start, the exam cannot be paused, and you may not leave the room for more than five minutes at a time. The Council does not publish how many questions each document or topic gets inside a part; sites that quote a breakdown are giving their own estimate.
The exam is online only, through the Council's secure proctoring software, which monitors you by camera and microphone. The Council asks you to complete its pre-exam checklist at least 48 hours ahead, and warns that a work computer or a Mac may need extra setup.
03How is the Master Electrician exam scored?
The Council's pass rule has two parts, and you must meet both:
- 60 per cent or more on each part of the exam; and
- an average of 75 per cent between the two parts.
The first part is what catches people. The Council's own example: 55 per cent on Part 1 and 95 per cent on Part 2 average 75 per cent, but the candidate fails, because Part 1 is under 60. The average is of the two part scores, so Part 1's 50 questions count as much toward it as Part 2's 70.
Results are posted on Council Connect within seven business days of the exam. If you fail and think there was a grading or exam error, you can ask for a regrade within 30 days of your results; the fee is $50, refunded if your mark rises to a pass, and there is one reread per exam.
04What can you use during the exam?
The exam is open book. The Council's page lists two sets of materials:
- the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, 26th edition (2024), which you buy separately from CSA Group; and
- the 2024 Exam Kit, a free PDF that holds every document tested on the exam except the CEC.
Only the versions in the Exam Kit are examined. A STANDATA bulletin or regulation updated after the kit was published is not what the exam tests, so study from the kit rather than from the newest copy online. Read the exam page and the pre-exam checklist for the rules on what may be on your desk and screen during an online sitting.
05How do you apply, and what does it cost?
You apply through your Council Connect account, under My Applications. The application has to show your journeyperson electrician trade certificate and three of the last five years' work as a journeyperson, and the application fee is $50.
Once you are approved, you register for the exam on Council Connect: under Courses/Exams, search Exam Offerings for the code ME, choose the standard offering and an individual registration, and pick a date at least seven days ahead. The exam fee is $150, paid when you register. The Council's Refund and Cancellation Guideline covers changes; check the fees when you book.
06What happens if you fail?
You rewrite only what you need to. The rewrite fee is $75 per part. If one part is under 60 per cent, you rewrite that part. If both parts are at 60 per cent or more but the average is under 75, you choose which part to rewrite. The Council allows as many rewrites as you need.
Because the average decides a pass once both parts clear 60, a candidate with a strong Part 2 often does best by rewriting Part 1, and the reverse. Know your score on each part before you choose.
07What do the two exam parts cover?
The Council names the two parts and lists the documents the exam covers. To study them, TicketPrep's bank splits each part in two, giving four units of our own; the summaries below come from the 29 objectives we built from the Exam Kit and the CEC 2024. They are our reading, not the Council's breakdown, which it does not publish, and the unit letters and their sizes are ours.
Unit A: Safety Codes Act, ME certification and permits (Part 1)
The Safety Codes Act: its scope, accreditation, safety codes officers' powers, orders, reviews and appeals, offences and penalties. The Certification and Permit Regulation on the ME certificate, its term, renewal, display and the grandfathered restricted and rural certificates; the Permit Regulation on when a permit is needed, who may hold one, and how permits are applied for, conditioned, transferred and closed; the Administrative Items and Electrical Code Regulations on service, reportable incidents, approved equipment and the codes in force; and the Council's Master Electrician Roles and Responsibilities and Code of Ethics.
Free unit A practice questions: Safety Codes Act, Certification and Permits →
Unit B: Trades, OHS, WCB, STANDATA and the AEUC (Part 1)
The Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act and its regulations: designated trades, who may do restricted electrical work, apprentices, sponsors, ratios and offences. The WCB-Alberta Employer Handbook on coverage, clearances, injury reporting and return to work; the Guide to OHS: Employers on the work site parties, the three rights, committees and representatives, hazard assessment and incident reporting; the Electrical STANDATA bulletins, interpretations and variances in the kit; and the Alberta Electrical Utility Code, 6th edition.
Free unit B practice questions: Trades, OHS, WCB, STANDATA and the AEUC →
Unit C: Canadian Electrical Code rules (Part 2)
The CEC 2024 rules that need no arithmetic, read with Alberta's STANDATA: Section 0 definitions and Section 2 general rules, conductors and services, grounding and bonding, wiring methods, protection and control, panelboards, receptacles and AFCI, hazardous and special locations, motors, lighting, fire alarm and emergency systems, and the special sections from high voltage and elevators to PV and storage, pools, temporary power and EV charging.
Free unit C practice questions: CEC Rules →
Unit D: Canadian Electrical Code calculations (Part 2)
The arithmetic: Section 8 service and feeder loads for dwellings, apartments and other occupancies, continuous loads and circuit limits, conductor ampacity, correction factors and termination temperatures, voltage drop, conduit, box and pull-box fill, motor, transformer and capacitor protection, bonding conductor sizing, and fault current, power factor and three-phase calculations.
Free unit D practice questions: CEC Calculations →
08Which CEC edition does the exam use?
The 26th edition, CSA C22.1:24, the 2024 Canadian Electrical Code, Part I. It came into force in Alberta on April 1, 2025 (Government of Alberta), and the Council's Information Bulletin of January 21, 2025 launched the exam on the 2024 Code, with its new Exam Kit, on April 14, 2025. The exam on the 2021 Code closed to new attempts after April 30, 2025.
Alberta adopts the national CEC without rewriting its text. Where Alberta applies a rule in its own way, it says so in Electrical STANDATA: bulletins, interpretations and variances published by the province. The kit includes the STANDATA the exam tests, so a Part 2 answer can turn on an Alberta bulletin as well as the Code.
The CEC is a CSA Group publication, and CSA does not allow its text, tables or definitions to be reproduced without permission. You need your own copy. Nothing on this page reproduces it, and our questions cite Rule numbers and explain each requirement in their own words.
09How should you study for an open-book code and legislation exam?
Part 2 is 70 questions in 3.5 hours, three minutes each; Part 1 is 50 questions in the same time, about 4 minutes 12 seconds each. That is enough to look up a rule or a section you can find quickly, and not enough to search a kit of more than 600 pages for one you have never opened.
- Tab the kit and the Code early. Tab the Exam Kit by document: the Safety Codes Act and each regulation, the trades legislation, the WCB and OHS guides, the STANDATA and the AEUC. Tab the CEC by section, with Section 8 and the tables you calculate from easy to reach.
- Work both parts. Each must reach 60 per cent. Electricians often lean on the Code and leave the legislation, which is a whole part of the exam, for last.
- Practise the look-up, not just the answer. When you get a question wrong, find the Rule, section or bulletin in your own copy and read it before you move on.
- Time a full sitting. Work at least one 50-question and one 70-question set at exam pace with only the materials you will use, and check your score on each part as well as the average.
10How does TicketPrep's Alberta Master Electrician practice test work?
Our bank has 550 original questions, 400 Standard and 150 Advanced, across both parts: 120 on Unit A and 87 on Unit B for Part 1, and 143 on Unit C and 200 on Unit D for Part 2. Every question has four options and one correct answer, explains all four, and records the CEC Rule, section of the Act or STANDATA it was written from. None is a real or recalled exam question; the Council itself says it offers no preparation material or practice exams.
The timed mock exam is 120 questions in seven hours, Part 1 first and then Part 2, drawn 28, 22, 31 and 39 from Units A to D. That split is ours, since the Council publishes only the 50 and 70 per part. Each mock is scored on both of the Council's rules, at least 60 per cent on each part and a 75 per cent average of the two part scores, and the result shows each part's percentage, so a paper with a high average and one weak part is marked as a fail.
You can try five questions free on the Alberta Master Electrician practice test page and read ten more on the free questions page, with ten more on each unit page.
11Questions people ask
- How many questions are on the Alberta Master Electrician exam?
- 120 multiple-choice questions in two parts, according to the Safety Codes Council's exam page: Part 1, Alberta Acts and Regulations, 50 questions, and Part 2, the Canadian Electrical Code, 70 questions. Each part has 3.5 hours.
- What is the pass mark for the Alberta ME exam?
- You need 60 per cent or more on each part and a 75 per cent average of the two parts. Both rules apply: 55 per cent on Part 1 and 95 per cent on Part 2 average 75 per cent but fail.
- Is the Master Electrician exam open book?
- Yes. You may use the CEC, Part I, 26th edition (2024), which you buy separately, and the Council's free 2024 Exam Kit, which holds every other document the exam tests. Only the kit versions are examined.
- How much does the Alberta Master Electrician exam cost?
- The Council's exam page gives a $50 application fee and a $150 exam fee. A rewrite is $75 per part, and a regrade appeal is $50, refunded if your mark rises to a pass.
- Is the exam written online?
- Yes. The Council says the exam is online only, through its secure proctoring software, with camera and microphone. You register on Council Connect at least seven days ahead and complete the pre-exam checklist at least 48 hours before.
- Does the Safety Codes Council have practice exams?
- No. Its exam page says the Council does not offer exam preparation courses, study materials or practice exams, and it lists prep courses at Alberta colleges and polytechnics. Practice questions from other sources, ours included, are not the Council's and are not exam questions.
12Sources
- Safety Codes Council: Master Electrician Exam: 120 questions in two parts (Part 1 Alberta Acts and Regulations, 50; Part 2 Canadian Electrical Code, 70), 3.5 hours a part with an optional one-hour break, the 60 per cent and 75 per cent pass rule and its example, results within seven business days, rewrites at $75 a part, the $50 application and $150 exam fees, online proctoring, booking on Council Connect at least seven days ahead, the regrade appeal, the documents tested and the note that the Council offers no preparation material or practice exams. Accessed October 24, 2026.
- Safety Codes Council: 2024 Master Electrician Exam Kit (PDF): every Part 1 document, including the Certification and Permit Regulation s. 4 (certificate requirements and the 75 per cent exam mark) and the Permit Regulation. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- Safety Codes Council: Information Bulletin 2025-01-21, Master Electrician Exam Update (PDF): the exam on the 2024 CE Code and the new kit from April 14, 2025, and the transition to April 30, 2025. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- Safety Codes Council: Online Proctoring Pre-Exam Checklist (PDF): the system checks to complete before an online sitting. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- Government of Alberta: Electrical codes and standards: the CEC 2024 in force in Alberta from April 1, 2025, and the Alberta Electrical Utility Code. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- CSA Group: Copyright permissions: permission is needed to reproduce CSA clauses, figures, tables and definitions. Accessed October 23, 2026.
The exam rules were read on the Safety Codes Council's exam page on October 24, 2026, and in its Exam Kit, bulletin and checklist the day before; the master electrician count is from the Council's 2024 Annual Report. Where the Council does not state a figure, such as how many questions each document gets, we say so instead of filling it in. The unit summaries are our own reading of the kit and the Code, and no CEC or CSA text is reproduced on this page. The Council is the final word on its exam; if you find something here out of date, tell us.
Related: Alberta Master Electrician practice test · Free Alberta Master Electrician practice questions · Ontario Master Electrician exam guide · How our questions are made · All guides
13Practice for this exam
TicketPrep Alberta Master Electrician practice tests cover both parts of the Safety Codes Council's exam and all 29 of our objectives, every answer is explained, all four options, and every mock is scored on both pass rules. You can try five sample questions with no account. The Alberta ME Exam Pass is $69 one time for 120 days, and All-Access at $119 includes it along with the Red Seal trades, the Ontario G3, the Ontario Master Electrician exam and 4th Class Power Engineering.
Ten free questions per trade, no account: free practice questions. How our questions are written and checked: how our questions are made.