Arborist trades across Canada: what each province names and where Red Seal stands

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It lists the provinces whose own trade-authority pages, regulations or board minutes were opened and read on October 8, 2026 and that name an arborist trade or program. Other provinces and territories are not on the list because no such page was opened for them.

The short table

Province	What its official page names
British Columbia	Three SkilledTradesBC programs: Arborist Technician, Climbing Arborist and Utility Arborist
Ontario	Two trades under Skilled Trades Ontario: Arborist and Utility Arborist, both non-compulsory
Quebec	An arboriculture qualification certificate that the government page calls mandatory for arboriculture work done for an employer
Nova Scotia	Arborist Trade Regulations in force since March 13, 2025
Manitoba	A board motion of April 16, 2026 to recommend designating Arborist as a voluntary trade

British Columbia

SkilledTradesBC runs three arborist programs. The pages list the same shape for each: technical training in a classroom with a designated provider, plus work-based hours.

Program	Technical training and work hours listed
BC program Arborist Technician	8 weeks over 1 year, 1,600 hours of work-based training
BC program Climbing Arborist	8 weeks over 1 year, 1,800 hours of work-based training
BC program Utility Arborist	8 weeks over 2 years, 2,378 hours of work-based training

The Arborist Technician page describes ground-based work: identifying plants, treating injured and diseased trees, felling, limbing and bucking, pruning from the ground, chipping and clean-up. The Climbing Arborist page describes risk assessment, aerial work with a lift truck and climbing equipment, and pruning at heights. Both pages carry the note that Arborist Technician must be taken before Climbing Arborist. The Climbing Arborist page adds that a person applying for a sign-off authority number for Climbing Arborist does not need Arborist Technician certification. It says both the apprenticeship and the challenge pathway need a practical assessment as well as a written exam.

The Utility Arborist page describes clearing trees and plants away from electrical equipment and lists a proximity verification form for work-based training. All three pages describe a challenge route: a person with work experience in the trade who has never been certified in Canada may be eligible to challenge the certification exam as a Trade Qualifier. The program profile PDF on each page has the eligibility details.

Ontario

Skilled Trades Ontario's pages for Arborist and Utility Arborist name both as trades under the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021, each with an apprenticeship program the agency administers.

Trade	Hours the page gives
Arborist	6,120 in total: 5,400 on the job and 720 in school
Utility Arborist	6,000 in total: 5,340 on the job and 660 in school

The pages say a Certificate of Apprenticeship is issued at the end, a certifying exam follows, and passing it earns a Certificate of Qualification. They say that because the trade is non-compulsory, the certificate does not have to be renewed and holders do not appear on the public register. The full term is also in the apprenticeships guide.

Quebec

The Quebec government's arboriculture certificate page is in French. It says the qualification certificate is mandatory for anyone doing arboriculture work for an employer, and that working without a valid certificate or apprentice card is an offence that carries a fine. It defines the work by reference to the occupational health and safety regulation: manual vegetation control on rights-of-way of energy or telecommunications networks, pruning outside forests, tree trimming, felling of pre-determined trees outside forests, stump removal, chipping, tree surgery and cabling. It says nursery work and horticulture are excluded. For questions on whether the certificate applies, the page points to the workplace safety board, the CNESST.

Item	What the page says
Apprenticeship	At least 1,800 hours under a certified worker. The apprentice card is renewed every year
Required courses	A 16-hour manual felling health and safety course, code 234-361, and a 40-hour arboriculture work technique course that the page marks as still to come
Exam	Written, multiple choice, 3 hours, 45 to 50 questions, pass mark 60 percent, in French unless a Charter exception applies
Certificate	Valid for four years, then renewed
Enrolment	Open to everyone since April 1, 2026
Workers already in the trade	Integration measures for people employed in arboriculture before June 8, 2026, with 3,000 or 5,000 hours worked depending on the route, or a vocational diploma in pruning
Other provinces	The page says a holder of an equivalent certificate from another province may be exempted from the exam or other requirements, with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement named

Nova Scotia

The province's Arborist Trade Regulations, N.S. Reg. 57/2025, took effect on March 13, 2025 under the Apprenticeship and Trades Qualifications Act. The province's page marks its consolidation unofficial and says the Royal Gazette Part II carries the official version. The regulations define the arborist trade as transplanting, maintaining and removing trees and woody plants with ropes, climbing systems, pruning tools, diagnostic tools and mechanized equipment, and treating pests, diseases, wounds and defects.

Item	What the regulations say
Term of apprenticeship	5,400 documented hours of practical experience and the technical training spent on the trade's skills, plus related technical training, plus a certification examination
Probation	No longer than 3 months
Certificate through trade qualification	8,100 hours of employment in the trade for a person without a certificate of apprenticeship

The Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency's earlier consultation notice, dated March 29, 2023, says its board received a request from industry to designate Arborist as a trade and develop an apprenticeship training pathway, and that the consultation closed on April 21, 2023.

Manitoba

The Apprenticeship and Certification Board's minutes of April 16, 2026 record an application to designate the Arborist trade. They say Manitoba lacks a formal training or apprenticeship pathway and relies on employer-led and voluntary options, and that the application is backed by a survey of over 130 respondents and by employers committed to hiring apprentices. Motion 2026.04.05, carried, recommends to the Minister that Arborist be designated as a voluntary trade. The minutes do not say whether the Minister has acted.

Red Seal status

The national Red Seal home page describes a Red Seal endorsement as a mark added to a provincial or territorial trade certificate, showing the holder can practise the trade anywhere in Canada, and says it needs a pass on the Red Seal exam. It also says not all trades are designated Red Seal. The trade list on that page includes Landscape Horticulturist, Powerline Technician and Mobile Crane Operator. It has no Arborist entry. The Manitoba minutes say the Canadian arborist industry is pursuing Red Seal designation and that designation in Manitoba would make a fifth participating jurisdiction and meet the national threshold for Red Seal recognition. Those are the board's words, not a decision by the Red Seal program.

For the wider Canadian picture, including safety rules and pay figures, see tree work in Canada. The ticket side is in the tickets guide.