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Painter and Decorator (404C) Red Seal Exam in Ontario

Certifying authority: Skilled Trades Ontario (STO). Last checked 2026-09-10.

Certification is voluntary in Ontario

This trade is not on Ontario’s compulsory list, so you may work in it without a certificate. The Red Seal still travels across Canada as a recognised credential, and employers frequently ask for it — but in Ontario it is a qualification, not a licence.

Source: Skilled Trades Ontario — Compulsory Trades (23 trades)

Preparing for the Painter and Decorator (404C) exam in Ontario?

Start with 10 free interactive Painter and Decorator (404C) questions with worked explanations, or take a full 130-question timed mock exam weighted to the official RSOS breakdown.

Try the 10-Question Interactive Painter and Decorator (404C) Quiz & Free PDF → Take Full 130-Question Timed Mock Exam ($14.99 CAD) →

Or unlock all Painter and Decorator (404C) questions with the 7-Day Pass ($9.99) or 3-Month Pass ($69.99, Free-Until-You-Pass Guarantee).

Whether it is required or not, the exam itself is the same paper everywhere in Canada. What your province decides is whether you must hold the certificate, how you apply, and where you sit it.

The exam: 130 questions, 6 Major Work Activities

The Red Seal Occupational Standard sets the split below. It does not change by province.

Major Work ActivityWeightingQuestions
MWA A: Performs common occupational skills 15% 20 Qs
MWA B: Prepares surfaces 23% 30 Qs
MWA C: Prepares and applies residential, institutional and commercial paints, coatings and finishes 24% 31 Qs
MWA D: Prepares and applies wall coverings 7% 9 Qs
MWA E: Prepares and applies wood finishes 8% 11 Qs
MWA F: Prepares and applies industrial paints and coatings 22% 29 Qs

Source: Red Seal Exam Breakdown — Painter and Decorator (404C), red-seal.ca

Time allowed and pass mark

4 hours, and a 70% pass mark (91/130). These are set provincially rather than by the Red Seal standard, and the four hours is the same whether your paper is 100 or 150 questions.

Confirmed against Skilled Trades Ontario’s Exam Preparation Guide and SkilledTradesBC. Check your own authority before exam day.

Quick 3-Question Painter and Decorator (404C) Readiness Check

Click any option (A–D) below to grade yourself immediately and view the worked explanation:

Sample Question 1 of 3
A journeyperson painter is booked to spray a two-component polyurethane topcoat on equipment inside a closed maintenance garage in Sudbury. The SDS for the hardener lists hexamethylene diisocyanate, the bay has only general ventilation, and the crew has been fit-tested only on half-face cartridge respirators. Which respiratory protection should the painter use for this spraying?
A) A supplied-air respirator, with the painter trained and fit-tested on it
B) A half-face respirator with organic vapour cartridges and P100 prefilters
C) A full-face respirator with organic vapour cartridges changed each shift
D) A disposable N95 respirator, with an extra exhaust fan set in the doorway
Correct answer: A

Sprayed isocyanates are strong respiratory sensitizers with poor warning properties, and SDSs for these hardeners typically call for supplied air when spraying in an enclosed space. Cartridges give no reliable end-of-service warning, and an N95 stops particles only.

Sample Question 2 of 3
A painter in Guelph is finishing six new bare pine interior doors in a satin enamel. The doors have small chips and nail holes to fill. On the last job, every filled spot showed through the topcoat as a dull, flat patch, because the filler soaked up the enamel differently from the rest of the door. Which sequence avoids this problem?
A) Apply the enamel first, then fill any flaws that show and touch up the filled spots with a small brush, using the same enamel
B) Fill and sand the flaws, then apply the satin enamel straight over the bare wood and the filler, adding a third coat to even out the sheen
C) Prime the whole door, then fill and sand the flaws and apply the enamel over them at once, without priming the filled spots again
D) Fill and sand the flaws, then prime the whole door, so the filled spots are sealed before the enamel goes on, and spot-prime any refills
Correct answer: D

Filler is more porous than primed wood, so filled spots left unsealed absorb the enamel and show as flat patches, called flashing. Every filled spot must be primed before the topcoat, whether the filling is done before priming or after it.

Sample Question 3 of 3
A painter in Halifax lifts a corner of the old paper in a hallway with a putty knife and pulls it slowly at a low angle. The whole strip comes away dry in one piece, face and backing together, and leaves the primed drywall clean and undamaged behind it. What type of wallcovering is this?
A) Non-strippable
B) Peelable
C) Strippable
D) Pre-pasted
Correct answer: C

A strippable wallcovering comes off dry, face and backing together, leaving little or no residue. A peelable one leaves its backing on the wall, and a non-strippable one must be scored and soaked. Pre-pasted describes the adhesive, not how it comes off.

Where you write it in Ontario

Booking is handled by Skilled Trades Ontario (STO); confirm current locations and dates with them.

Preparing for the Painter and Decorator (404C) exam

Our Painter and Decorator (404C) question bank is built to the official RSOS weighting above, with a worked explanation and code citation on every question.

Continue to Full 10-Question Interactive Painter and Decorator (404C) Quiz → Take the full 130-question timed mock exam →

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