TicketPrep is an independent, founder-run study platform. We are not affiliated with the Red Seal Program, any province's apprenticeship authority, or any exam provider, and we do not have access to real exam questions. What we do have is a method, and this page explains it so you can judge for yourself what a practice score here is worth.
01The map: the standard
Every Red Seal trade has a public Red Seal Occupational Standard that breaks the trade into major work activities, tasks and sub-tasks, and lists the knowledge and skills each one covers. That document is the map for our bank. Every question we publish is anchored to one sub-task code in the standard for its trade, and every sub-task in the standard has questions written to it. For the 309A Electrician bank, for example, that means five major work activities, 28 tasks and 97 tested sub-tasks, each one covered.
The standards we build to are the current editions published by the Red Seal Program: Automotive Service Technician, Truck and Transport Mechanic (Ontario's Truck and Coach Technician, 310T), Construction Electrician (Ontario's 309A), Carpenter, Heavy Duty Equipment Technician, Hairstylist, Industrial Mechanic (Millwright), where the exam and our bank still follow the 2017 standard until the Red Seal Program releases exams on the new one, and Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic, where the exam and our bank follow the 2019 standard while the exam on the 2024 edition is under development.
Two exams on the site are not Red Seal exams: the two papers of 4th Class Power Engineering, paper 4A and paper 4B. They have no occupational standard. Their map is the SOPEEC reference syllabus for the Fourth Class certificate, which Alberta’s ABSA publishes word for word and Ontario’s TSSA adopts: for Part A, twelve units (A to L) and 55 objectives; for Part B, twelve units (B1 to B12) and 52 objectives. Every 4A and 4B question is anchored to one objective, and every objective has questions.
A third exam is not a Red Seal exam either: Ontario’s Gas Technician 3 (G3), certified by TSSA. TSSA publishes the titles of the nine G3 modules but gives the curriculum itself only to accredited training providers, so our map is our own: nine modules, 50 objectives and 202 learning outcomes built from public sources, mainly Ontario’s regulations on e-Laws, TSSA’s Code Adoption Documents, policies and forms, and manufacturers’ installation manuals. Every G3 question is anchored to one of those outcomes, and every objective has questions.
The fourth is Ontario’s Master Electrician (ME) licensing exam, run by ESA, the Electrical Safety Authority. ESA publishes the exam’s three sections, the Ontario Electrical Safety Code, Worker Safety and Business Administration, and the laws each one covers, but no objectives below that. Our map is our own: three sections, 22 objectives and 132 learning outcomes built from ESA’s lists, the 2024 OESC and the Ontario statutes and regulations on e-Laws. Every ME question is anchored to one outcome and records the OESC Rule or the section of the Act it was written from.
The fifth is Alberta’s Master Electrician exam, run by the Safety Codes Council. The Council publishes the exam’s two parts, Alberta Acts and Regulations and the Canadian Electrical Code, and the documents it covers, collected in its 2024 Exam Kit, but no objectives below that. Our map is our own: four study units, two for each part, with 29 objectives and 210 learning outcomes built from the kit and the CEC 2024. Every Alberta ME question is anchored to one outcome and records the CEC Rule, the section of the Act or the STANDATA bulletin it was written from.
The sixth and seventh are the Ontario Building Code qualification exams House 2024 and Small Buildings 2024, set by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) and delivered by Humber. MMAH publishes a syllabus for each exam, a list of the code provisions it covers, but no question counts by topic. Our map is our own: seven study units with 92 sub-topics drawn from the two syllabi, and one 550-question bank in which every question is tagged with the exam or exams it belongs to (House is a subset of Small Buildings). Every BCIN question cites the 2024 Building Code by Division and article and explains it in our own words: the code text belongs to the Crown and the National Research Council, so we never reproduce its sentences, definitions or tables. Our 70-question mock exams draw from the seven units by weights of our own, since MMAH publishes none, and are scored at the exam’s 70 per cent pass mark.
The eighth and ninth are the two Ontario Building Code legal exams most inspectors and designers write, General Legal/Process 2024 and Designer Legal/Process 2024, also set by MMAH and delivered by Humber. MMAH publishes a syllabus for each, listing the sections of the Building Code Act, 1992 and the Code provisions it covers, and again no question counts. Our map is our own: seven study units with 54 sub-topics, and one 400-question bank in which every question is tagged with the legal exam or exams it belongs to (the two syllabi overlap but neither contains the other). Every question cites the section of the Act or the Code Article it was written from and explains it in our own words; it never reproduces the Act or the Code, and it never rests on text that the e-Laws consolidation prints but that is not yet in force. Our 70-question mock exams draw from the seven units by weights of our own, set from how much of each syllabus falls in each unit, and are scored at the 70 per cent pass mark.
The tenth is Ontario’s 313D Residential Air Conditioning Systems Mechanic Certificate of Qualification exam, set and delivered by Skilled Trades Ontario; 313D is an Ontario trade, not a Red Seal trade. STO’s exam counselling sheet weights six skill sets and sets a 70 per cent pass mark, but the sheet dates from 2016 and follows the older training standard, and STO publishes no 313D question count, only that its exams run between 90 and 150 questions. Our map is our own grouping of the current training standard under the sheet’s six skill sets: 28 tasks and 70 sub-tasks, with titles in our own words, since STO’s standard may not be reproduced. Our 130-question mock exams draw from the six skill sets by the sheet’s weights. CSA B52, CSA F280 and the Ontario Electrical Safety Code are cited by name, never reproduced, and every question is original: STO’s exam integrity policy treats sharing exam content as misconduct, and we never use recalled questions.
02The weighting: the exam breakdown
The Red Seal Program also publishes, for each trade, how many of the exam's questions come from each major work activity. We use those counts as the blueprint for every practice test. A 310S practice test draws 23 of its questions from electrical and comfort control systems and 9 from hybrid and EV systems because that is the published breakdown for the 310S exam, not because those are the questions we happened to have.
The same applies to the kind of question. Most Red Seal exams are mostly procedural and critical-thinking questions, not recall. Every question in our bank is tagged as recall, procedural or critical thinking, and each trade's bank is held to the mix its exam uses. The exception is Ironworker, whose three exams share one bank: its Standard questions are held to the Generalist and Structural/Ornamental mix, so they carry less recall than the Reinforcing exam's 65 to 75 percent. This is why our practice tests follow the published breakdown: a bank that is mostly recall questions tests a different mix from the exam.
4A and 4B are the exception to both. We found no per-unit question counts and no question mix for either paper from SOPEEC, ABSA, Technical Safety BC, TSASK or TSSA, so there is no official blueprint to match. Our 4A and 4B mock exams spread their 100 questions over all twelve units using our own estimate, half from each unit’s share of the paper’s objectives and half from an unofficial per-unit table, and we never present that estimate as the exam’s breakdown.
G3 is the same. TSSA does not publish the G3 question count or how many questions come from each module (its prep guide says only that typical TSSA exams run from 50 to 165 questions depending on the certificate, with up to 3.5 hours). Our G3 mock exam is our own length, 100 questions in 180 minutes, with the questions spread over the nine modules by our own estimate from course hours and the open-book, find-it-in-the-code style of the exam; we never present that as TSSA’s breakdown.
The ME exam is different again. ESA publishes its length, 80 questions in three hours, and three sections of 33 per cent each, but not the number of questions in each section. Our ME mock exam is 80 questions in 180 minutes, drawn 27, 27 and 26 from the three sections, which is our arithmetic, not ESA’s. It is scored the way ESA scores the exam: 70 per cent overall and at least 60 per cent in each section, so a mock that clears 70 per cent overall with one section under 60 per cent is reported as a fail.
The Alberta ME exam publishes more: 120 questions, 50 in Part 1 and 70 in Part 2, with 3.5 hours for each part. The Council does not say how many questions come from each document or topic inside a part. Our Alberta mock exam is 120 questions in seven hours, Part 1 first, drawn 28, 22, 31 and 39 from our four units, which is our split, not the Council’s. It is scored the way the Council scores the exam: at least 60 per cent on each part and a 75 per cent average of the two part scores, so a mock with a high average and one part under 60 per cent is reported as a fail.
03How a question is written
A question starts from a sub-task and the learning outcomes and range of variables the standard lists for it. The stem describes a situation on the job, in the standard's own vocabulary. There are four options, one correct. The three wrong options are written to be the plausible wrong instinct, not obviously absurd, and each one carries its own explanation of why it is wrong. That is why every question on TicketPrep explains all four answers, not just the right one.
Each question also carries a source note: the sub-task code it is anchored to, and where a fact or figure is involved, the code rule, standard clause or reference it rests on. Units are metric first with imperial alongside, the way the exams are written.
04How a question is checked
Drafting and checking are separate passes, and both are run with AI language models: the draft is written from the standard and the cited sources, and the check is set up to work from the source, not from the draft (more on how we use AI). The check starts from the source, not from the draft: the answer is re-derived from the standard, the code or the manufacturer's data and compared with the key. Every figure a candidate could be tested on is confirmed against the current edition of its source. Calculations are re-worked. Each wrong option is checked to be genuinely wrong, and its explanation checked to say why.
The sources depend on the trade. Electrical code questions are checked against the 2024 Canadian Electrical Code as adopted in the Ontario Electrical Safety Code, with the rule number recorded question by question. Air brake and inspection figures for 310T are checked against the National Safety Code Standard 11. Carpentry code values are checked against the National Building Code. Automotive and heavy equipment specifications are checked against SAE, CSA, CMVSS and manufacturer technical references. Where a value is genuinely set by the jurisdiction or the manufacturer rather than by a standard, the question supplies the value and tests the method, so nobody is asked to memorize a number that changes from shop to shop.
For 4A, every calculation is re-worked with the checker’s own script before the drafter’s working is read, and steam-table values are checked against IAPWS-IF97 and NIST saturation data. Answer choices on steam-table questions are spaced far enough apart that small differences between printed table editions cannot change the answer, or the property values are given in the question. Questions on acts and regulations either stay with what every jurisdiction shares or name the province.
For 4B, every number is recomputed independently as well: pump power and the affinity laws, relief-valve percentages, sling loads, blowdown and cooling-tower mass balances, condenser and refrigeration values, humidity arithmetic, heat losses and lighting levels. Operating practice varies from plant to plant, so a question whose answer depends on one plant’s procedure states that procedure in the question.
For G3, every code, regulation and Code Adoption Document fact is re-checked against a public source we keep on file, because candidates write with the code open: Ontario’s regulations on e-Laws, TSSA’s amendments to CSA B149.1-25 and B149.2-25, TSSA’s policies and forms, safety data sheets and manufacturers’ instructions. We have no licence to reproduce CSA code text, so no question quotes it or reproduces a CSA table; a code value that no public source confirms is given in the question instead of being tested from memory. Each question was also answered blind by a checker before the key was read, and every calculation was recomputed.
For the ME exam, OESC questions are checked against a licensed copy of the 2024 OESC, 29th edition, and the worker safety and business questions against the statutes and regulations as consolidated on e-Laws on the day they were read. The OESC is CSA Group’s text, so no ME question or page reproduces its wording, tables or definitions: questions cite the Rule number and explain the requirement in their own words, and the ME bank is checked by script for any run of 12 or more words shared with the Code. Every question was answered blind by a checker before the key was read.
A question that cannot be traced to a source is rewritten or held back. When a check finds an error in a published question, we correct it and record what changed.
05Two levels, one blueprint
Each of the other sixteen trades has 550 questions: 400 at the Standard level and 150 at the Advanced level. Ironworker, whose three Red Seal exams share one bank, has 880: 640 Standard and 240 Advanced. On the Red Seal trades both levels follow the same blueprint weighting. 4th Class Power Engineering 4A and 4B also have 550 each, 400 Standard and 150 Advanced; with no official blueprint to follow, the 4A Advanced questions lean toward the calculation units and the 4B Advanced questions toward boiler safety devices, plant operations, water treatment and refrigeration. The Ontario G3 bank also has 550, 400 Standard and 150 Advanced, its Advanced questions leaning toward codes, acts and regulations, piping, gas properties and electricity. So does the Ontario Master Electrician bank, its Advanced questions leaning toward the OESC (70 of the 150), and the Alberta Master Electrician bank, its Advanced questions leaning toward the CEC calculations (70 of the 150), and the BCIN bank, its Advanced questions leaning toward wood-frame construction and structure (74 of the 150). The 313D bank has 550, 400 Standard and 150 Advanced, its Advanced questions leaning toward service and the electrical components (80 of the 150). The BCIN Legal/Process bank has 400, 300 Standard and 100 Advanced, both levels spread across its seven units in the same proportion. The difference is the depth. Standard items test the procedure and the fact; Advanced items are almost all critical thinking, built around a fault, a calculation or a code decision worked through to a conclusion. We added the Advanced tier after live scores showed that experienced candidates were running out of hard questions.
06What we don't do
We do not sell, reproduce or paraphrase real Red Seal exam questions. The Red Seal Program warns that any site claiming to have the real questions is either dishonest or breaking the law. The same goes for 4th Class Power Engineering, the Ontario G3, the Ontario and Alberta Master Electrician exams and the Ontario 313D exam: we never use recalled exam questions, and we do not copy from textbooks, including the free 4th Class learning units released under a non-commercial licence, or from CSA and ASME code text. For the ME exam this is also the law: ESA’s Rules of Conduct forbid reproducing exam content, and a February 2026 Ontario Superior Court order bars anyone who knows of it from selling or distributing confidential Master Electrician exam information, so every ME question is written from the Code and the statutes and carries its source. We do not publish pass-rate claims we cannot substantiate. We do not claim that practising here guarantees a result on exam day; the exam tests your trade, and practice shows you where you stand.
07When the standard changes
The Red Seal Program revises standards and exam breakdowns on its own schedule. When a standard for one of our trades is revised, we re-check the map, the weightings and every question anchored to a changed sub-task, and note the edition on the trade's page. The pages for each trade link to the current standard and exam breakdown so you can check them yourself.
08Found a mistake?
If you think a question is wrong, tell us. Use the contact page and choose "Report a question error", or email support@ticketprep.ca. Include the question's ID from the top of the card. We check it against the source and, if it is wrong, fix it, and the fix is recorded with the question.
09Red Seal holders: review our questions
If you hold a Red Seal in one of our eighteen trades, or a Power Engineer certificate, and would like to review questions in your trade, we would like to hear from you. Email support@ticketprep.ca with your trade and where you work. Reviewers get free All-Access for as long as they are reviewing and, if they want it, a credit on this page.