What is on the 415A Cook Red Seal exam.

01What is the 415A Cook Red Seal exam?

It is the national certification exam for the trade that the Red Seal Program calls Cook. Ontario certifies the same trade under the same name, Cook, and 415A is Ontario's trade code for it. Cook is a non-compulsory trade in Ontario, which means you do not need the certificate to work as a cook; passing this exam is how you earn the Certificate of Qualification that Skilled Trades Ontario issues. Other provinces use their own titles for the same certification, such as Professional Cook 3 in British Columbia and Cook Level 2 in Quebec. Whichever name you see on a form or a study resource, it is the same exam and the same occupational standard.

The content is set nationally. According to the Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide, tradespeople from across Canada decide what goes into the trade's Red Seal Occupational Standard (RSOS), write and review every exam question, and decide how many questions each section of the standard gets. The exam is then administered by the provincial and territorial apprenticeship and certification authorities. In Ontario that is Skilled Trades Ontario, which runs the Cook apprenticeship over two levels: 5,280 hours on the job and 720 hours of in-school training.

The format is the same as every Red Seal exam: multiple choice, four options (A to D), one correct answer, one mark per question and no penalty for a wrong answer. The Cook exam has 150 questions and the writing time is four hours, 1.6 minutes per question. The pass mark is 70 per cent. Seventy per cent of 150 is exactly 105, so you need 105 correct answers and can miss 45.

The standard behind the exam is the 2020 Red Seal Occupational Standard for Cook, which replaced the 2016 National Occupational Analysis. The Red Seal Program's trade page still carries a line saying new exams based on the new standard are being implemented, but the question breakdown on the exam information page follows the 13 blocks of the 2020 standard task by task, and that is the breakdown this guide uses. If you pick up an older study guide organised in 12 blocks, with garde-manger and baked goods as the last two, it was built on the 2016 analysis, and its block letters from K onward will not match the current exam.

The preparation guide makes one point worth repeating: this is not a test of what your kitchen does or what your province does. It covers the scope of the trade across Canada at the journeyperson level, so expect questions on game, shellfish, charcuterie, chocolate and dietary requirements even if your menu never touches them.

02What is on the 415A exam?

The Red Seal Program publishes how many questions come from each major work activity. For Cook the 150 questions break down like this.

This is a flat breakdown. The heaviest block is I, meats, game, poultry, game birds and variety meats, at 16 questions (10.7 per cent), and Block J, fish and seafood, is one behind at 15. Hygiene, sanitation and safety and sauces tie for third at 13 each. The lightest block is L, specialty preparation, at 8 questions (5.3 per cent), with salads and sandwiches at 9. The gap between the largest and the smallest block is only eight questions, and the nine blocks outside the top four all sit between 8 and 12, so no single block decides the exam. The shares are worked out from the question counts and each is rounded to one decimal, which is why the column adds to 100.1 rather than 100.0.

03What does each block cover?

The task names below are the ones the 2020 Red Seal Occupational Standard lists under each major work activity, with the number of questions the Red Seal Program assigns to each task. Questions are written to the sub-tasks. From Block C onward most food tasks split into the same steps: select, process, cook and finish. The single largest task on the exam is prepares sauces (E-16) with 9 questions. Practices food safety procedures (A-2), prepares meats and game meats (I-24) and prepares seafood (J-28) come next with 8 each.

Block A: Hygiene, sanitation and safety (13 questions)

Two tasks and nine sub-tasks. Performs safety and hygiene-related functions (5 questions) covers a safe work environment, PPE and safety equipment, and personal hygiene. Practices food safety procedures (8 questions), which the standard calls the most critical component of the food service industry, covers keeping raw and finished product at a safe condition and temperature, cooling food rapidly, re-thermalizing food, preventing cross-contamination, and cleaning and sanitizing tools and equipment. The standard treats those last two as separate jobs: cleaning removes physical debris, sanitizing removes biological contaminants. Its cooling methods include an ice bath, dividing product into smaller batches, ice wands and a blast chiller, and the regulations it names are WHMIS, HACCP, occupational health and safety and public health regulations. It asks you to identify danger zone temperatures, cooling time limits and required internal temperatures, but it does not print the figures or cite a regulation by number, so expect food safety rules as knowledge and application questions (what temperature, which method, what to do next) rather than questions about the wording of a regulation.

Block B: Common occupational skills (11 questions)

Seven tasks and 20 sub-tasks for 11 questions, so one or two questions per task. Uses tools and equipment (2) covers knives, pots, pans and utensils, and equipment and appliances. Organizes work (1) covers organizing the kitchen and scheduling production. Manages information (1) covers planning the menu and mise en place and using documentation; this is where standardized recipes, recipe conversion, cost control and yield costing between as-purchased (AP) and edible portion (EP) sit. Manages products (2) covers ordering, receiving, storing and inventory. Performs trade activities (2) covers using recipes, portion control, presenting finished product and using convenience foods. Adapts cooking practices to meet dietary requirements (2) covers kitchen practices, ingredient selection and preparation for requirements the standard lists as cultural, allergies, ethical, religious, health-related and environmental. Uses communication and mentoring techniques has 1.

Block C: Produce (12 questions)

Three tasks. Prepares vegetables is the largest with 5 questions and prepares fruit has 4; each runs through selecting, cleaning, processing, cooking and finishing. Prepares herbs and spices has 3, over selecting, cleaning herbs and processing herbs and spices. The range of variables lists the market forms you are expected to know (peeled, dehydrated, whole, cut, bulk frozen, individual quick frozen and canned) and the classic cuts: julienne, baton, brunoise and dice, plus the supreme for fruit.

Block D: Stocks, broths and soups (12 questions)

Two tasks split evenly. Prepares stocks and broths (6 questions) covers selecting and processing ingredients and cooking; the standard's stock types are white, brown, court-bouillon and fumet, and it calls selecting the right ingredients a critical step. Prepares soups (6 questions) adds finishing, and its soup types are clear, consommés, cream, puréed, specialty or international and cold. Both tasks include knowing how to cool the product, so this block overlaps with the food safety content in Block A.

Block E: Sauces (13 questions)

Two tasks and six sub-tasks, which makes this the densest block on the exam. Prepares thickening and binding agents (4 questions) covers selecting and processing agents such as roux, starches, liaison, beurre manié and vegetable purées. Prepares sauces (9 questions), the largest single task in the standard, covers selecting, processing, cooking and finishing. The standard names the mother sauces as espagnole, béchamel, velouté, tomato and hollandaise, gives derivatives such as demi-glace, béarnaise, mornay and suprême, and lists other sauces from pan gravies, jus lié and reductions to chutneys, salsas, curries and coulis. Know which mother sauce each derivative comes from and how each thickener behaves.

Block F: Cheese, dairy, plant-based dairy alternatives, eggs and egg products (10 questions)

Two tasks with 5 questions each. Uses cheese, dairy products and plant-based dairy alternative products covers selecting, processing and finishing them, and the standard stresses understanding the properties of each product and how to incorporate it into a recipe. Prepares eggs and egg-based dishes covers selecting, processing, cooking and finishing, with cooking methods such as boiling, poaching, frying, scrambling, shirring, basting, baking and tempering. The standard also points out that eggs work as leavening and binding agents, not only as a dish on their own.

Block G: Pastas, noodles, stuffed pastas and dumplings (10 questions)

Two tasks. Prepares pastas and noodles (6 questions) covers fresh, dried and frozen pastas and fresh, dried and fried noodles, from selection to finishing. Prepares stuffed pastas and dumplings (4 questions) covers items such as cannelloni, manicotti, tortellini and ravioli, and dumplings, which the standard describes as cooked mainly with moist heat. It notes that making the pasta dough itself is covered elsewhere in the standard.

Block H: Grains, pulses, seeds, nuts and alternative proteins (11 questions)

Three tasks. Prepares grains and pulses (4 questions) and prepares alternative proteins (4) each cover selecting, processing and cooking, and prepares seeds and nuts (3) does the same. The standard says alternative proteins may include insects and plant-based protein sources, and that seeds and nuts can also be used as protein alternatives, so expect questions on how these products are handled and cooked, not only on rice and beans.

Block I: Meats, game, poultry, game birds and variety meats (16 questions)

The largest block. Three tasks, each with the same four sub-tasks: selects, processes, cooks and finishes. Prepares meats and game meats (8 questions) covers beef, pork, veal, lamb and goat and game such as bison, elk, caribou, moose, deer, wild boar and rabbit, with cuts from whole to primal, sub-primal and pre-portioned and classifications by origin, size, ageing (dry or wet) and grade. Prepares poultry and game birds (6) covers chicken and turkey and game birds such as quail, pheasant, partridge and duck. Prepares variety meats (2), which the standard also calls offal, covers items that need particular handling. Doneness is checked by temperature readings and sensory assessment, and processing methods run from de-boning, larding and barding to brining, curing and tying.

Block J: Fish and seafood (15 questions)

Two tasks, each with selects, processes, cooks and finishes, so 15 questions sit on eight sub-tasks and this block rewards depth. Prepares fin fish (7 questions) covers freshwater and saltwater, round and flat, oily and lean fish, and processing such as scaling, trimming, de-boning, filleting, skinning and portioning; doneness can be checked with a needle test as well as temperature. Prepares seafood (8 questions) covers everything that is not fin fish: shellfish, bivalves and cephalopods, bought live, fresh, frozen, individually quick frozen, peeled, de-veined or shucked, and processed by shucking, shelling, de-veining and de-bearding. The standard stresses freshness, safe handling and dietary requirements for both.

Block K: Salads and sandwiches (9 questions)

Three tasks with 3 questions each. Prepares sandwiches covers selecting and processing ingredients, assembling and cooking. Prepares salads covers selecting and processing ingredients and finishing; the standard says most salads should be finished as close to service as possible unless they are marinated. Prepares condiments, preserves and dressings covers selecting and processing ingredients for dressings such as vinaigrettes, emulsions and dairy-based dressings, condiments such as dips, relishes and salsas, and preserves such as pickled vegetables and preserved fruit.

Block L: Specialty preparation (8 questions)

The lightest block, with four tasks and 14 sub-tasks. Prepares hors d'oeuvres and other finger foods (3 questions) covers items such as canapés, sushi, satays and dim sum. Prepares charcuterie and cured products (2) covers forcemeats, terrines, pâtés, galantines and ballotines, sausages and smoked and cured products. Prepares marinades, rubs and brines (2) covers what each one is for: marinades flavour and tenderize, rubs are dry seasonings, and brines can cure and preserve. Prepares gels and glazes (1) covers aspics and other gels set with gelatin or plant-based agents such as agar agar, and glazes.

Block M: Sweet and savoury baked goods and desserts (10 questions)

Six tasks and 20 sub-tasks for 10 questions, the thinnest coverage per sub-task on the exam. Prepares dough-based products (2 questions), prepares batter-based products (2), prepares creams, mousses, frozen desserts, fillings, icings, toppings and sugar works (2) and prepares savoury and sweet pastries and pies (2) each run from selecting ingredients to finishing. Assembles cakes (1) assumes the components are already made and focuses on assembly and presentation. Prepares chocolate (1) covers items such as truffles, ganaches and dipping chocolate. With one or two questions per task, aim for sound basics across all six rather than depth in one.

04What kind of questions are they?

The Red Seal Program describes the Cook question mix as knowledge and recall 30 to 40 per cent, procedural and application 55 to 65 per cent and critical thinking under 10 per cent. On a 150-question exam that is roughly 45 to 60 recall questions, 83 to 98 procedural questions and fewer than 15 critical thinking questions.

So this is mainly an exam about method: how a job is done, in what order and with which technique. The exam information page gives one example of each type. The recall example asks which knife is used to remove excess fat and tissue when preparing boneless chicken breasts. The procedural example asks how raw ground beef is stored in a refrigerator, and the answer is below ready-to-serve products. The critical thinking example asks what the menu price must be for an item that costs $1.00 to produce if the food cost is to stay at 29 per cent. The answer is $3.45: the menu price is the cost divided by the food cost percentage, and $1.00 ÷ 0.29 = $3.448, which rounds to $3.45.

The Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide explains the three types. Knowledge and recall questions check facts related to doing a sub-task, and you can often answer them before you look at the options. Procedural and application questions test whether you know a procedure, and may include calculations. Critical thinking questions check problem-solving: you are given a situation and asked for the cause or the result.

For procedural questions the guide says to know all the procedures in the standard, not just the ones you have carried out yourself. In this trade that means the steps for rapid cooling and re-thermalizing, the difference between cleaning and sanitizing, the stages of a stock, a mother sauce or a consommé, breaking down a primal cut, filleting a round and a flat fish, and converting a recipe to a new yield. For recall, the guide suggests working through the range of variables under each sub-task, the lists of products, cuts, methods and terms the wording refers to, with index cards: the term on one side and the meaning on the other. The guide also says there are no trick questions, but the incorrect options are not always obvious, so when you review a practice question, work out why each wrong option is wrong as well as why the right one is right.

05What do you get in the exam room?

The Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide lists what you are provided with: an exam booklet, a diagram booklet if one is required, a pencil and eraser, a calculator if needed, and a bubble sheet to record your answers. It also lists other reference material "if required": an acronym list, math formulas and code book information. Scrap paper is provided too.

For Cook the exam information page publishes an acronym list and says it will be provided with the exam sitting. It is short: AP (As-Purchased), EP (Edible Portion) and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). The page publishes no formula sheet for this trade, so the arithmetic the standard expects (converting weights and volumes between imperial and metric, scaling a recipe to a new yield, working from as-purchased to edible portion, and pricing from a food cost percentage) has to be in your head, not on a sheet. The page does not list code book information either. Anything else you are wondering about, ask your provincial or territorial office what comes with the Cook exam where you write.

You may not bring your own materials or electronics. The guide's rules say no materials, bags, phones, watches or personal calculators in the room, and you use only the pencils, erasers, calculators and scrap paper provided. It adds that your province or territory may have specific rules of its own. More on the day itself is in what to expect on exam day.

06Where should your study time go?

Follow the weights, but expect them to be spread wide. In order: I (16), J (15), A (13), E (13), C (12), D (12), B (11), H (11), F (10), G (10), M (10), K (9) and L (8). Blocks I and J together are 31 of 150 questions, or 20.7 per cent. Add A and E and you have 57 of 150, which is 38 per cent. The other nine blocks are 93 questions, or 62 per cent.

That changes the usual advice. On many Red Seal exams a few blocks carry most of the paper. On this one the four largest blocks are well under half, and you need 105 correct answers: even a perfect score on I, J, A and E leaves you 48 short, so at least 48 marks have to come from the other nine blocks, more than half of their 93 questions. A sensible split is to give the four large blocks about 40 per cent of your time, in weight order, and share the rest across the nine smaller ones, starting with produce and with stocks, broths and soups at 12 each. If game, shellfish, charcuterie or chocolate rarely come through your kitchen, those tasks are exactly what the preparation guide warns about.

Within a block, remember how the questions are shared out. Block E puts 9 of its 13 questions on sauces, so know the mother sauces, their derivatives and the thickeners in depth. Block A puts 8 of 13 on food safety procedures. Block I puts 8 of 16 on meats and game meats and 6 on poultry and game birds. Block J splits almost evenly between fin fish (7) and seafood (8). At the other end, Blocks B and M spread 11 and 10 questions over 20 sub-tasks each, so cover them for breadth. Some content also runs through several blocks at once: cooling and safe handling come up in the stock, soup, meat and seafood tasks as well as in Block A, and costing and yields sit in Block B but apply to every product.

Because 55 to 65 per cent of the questions are procedural, most of your time belongs to method rather than terms: walk each preparation in the standard through in order, from selecting the product to finishing it. Practise the food cost and recipe conversion arithmetic without a formula sheet until it is automatic. Every question is worth one mark and there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so answer everything. For a full method, see how to study for the Red Seal exam.

07How do you use the standard as a checklist?

The Red Seal Occupational Standard for Cook is public and free. The 2020 edition, the one the current exam is built on, lists 13 major work activities, 41 tasks and 142 sub-tasks, and all 142 are common core, so every one of them is testable. The preparation guide states plainly that exam questions are based on the sub-tasks and that the standard, not any textbook, is the basis of the exam.

To use it as a checklist, go through the 41 tasks and rate yourself on each one using the three levels from the Red Seal self-assessment guide for Cook, which lists every task and sub-task with the number of questions assigned to each major work activity and task: no or very little understanding or experience, some experience in limited situations, or fully competent in many situations. Then set your ratings beside the question counts above. A low rating on prepares sauces (9 questions), food safety procedures (8), meats and game meats (8) or seafood (8) is your first priority. A low rating on a one-question task such as gels and glazes or chocolate comes later, but it still goes on the list.

For each weak task, read its sub-tasks in the full standard. Each one lists the skills and knowledge expected and a range of variables: the products, market forms, cuts, cooking methods, finishing techniques and regulations the wording refers to. The guide recommends making sure you understand every term used there, because the same terms appear on the exam. Brand names and slang do not. The appendices hold the acronyms, a tools and equipment list and a glossary.

Official links: the Cook trade page and Red Seal Occupational Standard, the 2020 standard as a PDF, the exam information page (the breakdown, the question mix and the acronym list) and the self-assessment list.

08Where and how do you write it?

Each province and territory administers the exam itself and decides who is eligible to write it, so booking, fees and rewrite rules depend on where you write. In Ontario that is Skilled Trades Ontario; see the Ontario Red Seal exam guide. For anywhere else, find your jurisdiction in the guides by province. Compare costs in Red Seal exam fees by province, and read what happens if you fail the Red Seal exam before you book. If you are coming to the exam through work experience rather than an apprenticeship, see how to challenge the Red Seal exam.

09Questions people ask

How many questions are on the 415A Cook Red Seal exam?

The 415A Cook exam has 150 multiple-choice questions and a four-hour writing time, 1.6 minutes per question. Each question has four options and one correct answer, and the pass mark is 70 per cent, which means 105 correct answers out of 150. You can miss 45 questions and still pass.

Which section of the Cook Red Seal exam has the most questions?

Block I, meats, game, poultry, game birds and variety meats, has the most with 16 of the 150 questions (10.7 per cent). Fish and seafood is next with 15, then hygiene, sanitation and safety and sauces with 13 each. The single largest task is preparing sauces, with 9 questions. The four largest blocks hold 57 of the 150 questions, and the other nine blocks, with 8 to 12 questions each, carry the remaining 93.

Is 415A the same as the Cook Red Seal exam?

Yes. Cook is the Red Seal Program's name for the trade, and Ontario certifies it under the same name with trade code 415A. Other provinces use their own titles, such as Professional Cook 3 in British Columbia and Cook Level 2 in Quebec. The exam is the same interprovincial Red Seal exam everywhere: 150 questions, four hours, 70 per cent to pass.

Is there a formula sheet on the Cook Red Seal exam?

No. The Red Seal Program's exam information page for Cook provides an acronym list (AP for as-purchased, EP for edible portion and PPE for personal protective equipment) but no formula sheet. You need to know the kitchen arithmetic yourself: recipe conversion, yields from as-purchased to edible portion, metric and imperial conversions and food cost pricing. A calculator is provided if needed; you cannot bring your own.

What types of questions are on the Cook Red Seal exam?

The Red Seal Program describes the Cook mix as 30 to 40 per cent knowledge and recall, 55 to 65 per cent procedural and application and under 10 per cent critical thinking. On 150 questions that is roughly 45 to 60 recall questions, 83 to 98 procedural questions and fewer than 15 critical thinking questions. Its own critical thinking example asks for the menu price of an item that costs $1.00 at a 29 per cent food cost, which is $3.45.

What is the pass mark for the 415A Cook exam?

The pass mark is 70 per cent, the same as every Red Seal exam. On the 150-question Cook exam that is exactly 105 correct answers. Each question is worth one mark and there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so it pays to answer every question.

10Sources

• Red Seal Program: Cook exam information: 150 questions, the question count for each major work activity and task, the question mix with one example of each question type, and the acronym list provided with the exam. This is the breakdown of the current exam.
• Red Seal Program: Cook trade page: the Red Seal trade name and the provincial titles for the trade, and the line on new exams based on the new standard.
• Red Seal Occupational Standard: Cook (2020, PDF): the standard the current exam is built on: the 13 major work activities, 41 tasks and 142 sub-tasks, task titles and descriptors, the range of variables, the common core markings and the appendices.
• Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide: exam format, pass mark, writing time, question types and study methods, exam supplies, exam room rules and the common core rule.
• Red Seal exam self-assessment list: the Self-Assessment Guide for Cook, with the question count per major work activity and task, and the three-level self-rating used in the checklist section.
• Skilled Trades Ontario: Cook: the Ontario trade name and code (Cook, 415A), its non-compulsory status, and the apprenticeship hours and levels.

The question counts were checked against the Red Seal Program's exam information page for Cook on September 26, 2026, and the task lists come from the 2020 Red Seal Occupational Standard, the edition the current exam is built on. If the Red Seal Program changes the breakdown, its page is the final word. If you find one of ours out of date, tell us.

Related: All guides · How to study for the Red Seal exam · How many questions are on the Red Seal exam · Red Seal exam pass mark · What to expect on exam day · The Red Seal exam in Ontario · 415A Cook practice exam · Free 415A practice questions

11Practice for this exam

TicketPrep 415A practice tests are weighted to the breakdown above, block by block, and every answer is explained, all four options. You can try five sample questions with no account.

Ten free questions per trade, no account: free practice questions. How our questions are written and checked: how our questions are made.