Pesticide licence in Alberta: categories, exam and renewal

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The sources are the Alberta government's pesticide pages and Lakeland College, which the province names as the body that runs applicator certification. The parent page, pesticide licences by country, has the national background.

At a glance

Item	What the sources say
Agency	Alberta Environment and Protected Areas; certification run by Lakeland College
Person	Pesticide Applicator Certificate, by class
Class for trees and turf	Landscape: ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers and turf on outdoor residential, commercial and public land
Business	Pesticide service registration, cancelled if insurance lapses
Study and exam	Landscape home study CA$325; closed book exams of 1.5 to 4.5 hours, 70% to pass; rewrite CA$225
Certificate term	Up to 5 years, expiring on the holder's birthday
Recertification	15 continuing education credits per class, or rewrite the exam for CA$225

Who needs a certificate

The province's page on pesticide applicator training says a certificate is required for anyone other than a commercial agriculturist applying Schedule 1 or 2 pesticides, for any pesticide whose label says it is for certified or authorized applicators, and for Schedule 3 pesticides in rental dwellings, condominium common areas and the grounds of schools, hospitals, nursing homes and day cares. A certified applicator may supervise up to 6 assistants. Non-certified assistants must be 16, or 18 to apply Schedule 1 pesticides, and may not apply products with a certification statement on the label.

The Landscape class

Lakeland College's page on certificate classes says the Landscape class covers pesticides other than fumigants applied by ground for the maintenance of ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers and turf on outdoor residential, commercial (such as golf courses and cemeteries) and public land. It includes herbicide on parking lots and roads for designated noxious or restricted weeds within urban areas, but not brush control. The Forestry class is separate and covers forest management, silviculture, seed orchards, outdoor nurseries and plantations. The Industrial class covers herbicides on parking lots and landscaped areas around industrial facilities.

Study, exam and fees

All training starts with a core manual and then class lessons. The college's home study fee list gives CA$325 for the Landscape package, CA$145 for the core manual alone and CA$390 for a combined Agriculture and Landscape package. The college's exam page says exams are closed book, run from 1.5 to 4.5 hours, need 70% or higher, are booked at least 10 business days ahead and written online with proctor locations in Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Olds and Vermilion. After paying, the applicant has 8 weeks to write, and the rewrite fee is CA$225. The college notes processing times of about 12 weeks because of high application volume from outside the province.

Renewal

The province says certificates are issued for up to 5 years and recertified by exam or by continuing education. The college's recertification page says each class is renewed separately, either by rewriting the exam for CA$225 or by earning 15 credits approved for that class, with a maximum of 10 in any calendar year and at most 2 archived online credits. The 15 credits include at least 2 in regulations, 2 in health and pesticide safety, 1 in environment, 2 in pest management and 2 in application technology. The page advises applying at least one month before expiry. A lapsed certificate cancels the business registration.

Business registration and insurance

The province's page on pesticide service registration says any business advertising or providing a pesticide service must hold a registration, applied for through the Digital Regulatory Assurance System. The registration is cancelled if the business does not employ a certified applicator of the right class, or if the service's insurance lapses. Registrations are non-transferable. The pages read give no insurance amount.

Reciprocity

The college's page on interprovincial transfer says Alberta recognizes certain certificates from some provinces and issues an equivalent certificate, once, to people who moved to Alberta. Alberta residents must write the Alberta exams. A transferring applicant writes at least the Alberta legislation exam, orders a core reciprocity lesson for CA$40 and must work for a registered service. From British Columbia, Alberta recognizes only 5-year, whole-class certificates. From Saskatchewan and Manitoba it recognizes whole-class certificates. An applicant from Ontario or Quebec must write the full core exam.