Pesticide licence in Ontario: 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 Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, which licenses pesticide use under Ontario's Pesticides Act and Ontario Regulation 63/09, and Ontario Pesticide Training and Certification at the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus, which the ministry names as the course and exam provider. The parent page, pesticide licences by country, has the national background.

At a glance

Item	What the sources say
Agency	Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
Licence for the person	Pesticide exterminator licence, land type, Landscape class
Licence for the business	Pesticide operator licence, with insurance
Minimum age	16
Exam provider	Ontario Pesticide Training and Certification, University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus
Training and exam fee	CA$214.00 for the core manual and one licence category; CA$192.00 for each additional category; CA$82.00 to rewrite
Licence fee	Exterminator CA$90; operator CA$200
Term	Exterminator: 5 years from issue. Operator: expires December 31 of the year issued

Licence types

The ministry's pesticide licences and permits page says that, unless exempt, a pesticide exterminator licence is needed to apply pesticides commercially on any property that the person or the employer does not own or farm. There are three types of exterminator licence: structural, land and water. A business that operates a pesticide extermination business or employs people who apply pesticides commercially needs an operator licence. A vendor licence covers selling or transferring pesticides. The page also describes supervisees and assistants who work under a licensed exterminator and are exempt from holding their own licence. The ministry's guide to pesticide licensing names them trainees, technicians and Class 12 supervisees.

The category for trees and turf

Land exterminator licences come in classes: Aerial, Agriculture, Industrial Vegetation, Forestry and Landscape. The guide says the Landscape class covers all pesticides except fumigant gases, used in a land extermination on residential, recreational, commercial or public land to maintain turf or ornamental plantings, on the outside of buildings for pests tied to turf or ornamental plantings, for maintaining treed areas not exceeding one hectare, and for rights of way or easements that are not related to a public work. It also covers maintaining ornamental plantings intended for sale. A forestry class is separate and is described as land extermination for the purposes of forestry. The guide also lists an exemption for an operator whose business only injects trees, stumps or wooden poles, or only uses a Class D tree wound dressing.

Course, exam and fees

The guide says applicants complete a ministry approved course, a home study, and pass a certification exam within 12 months before applying. The ministry page says the applicant must be at least 16 and send a copy of the exam certificate for a new application. The course requirement does not apply to a renewal before expiry or to an application for a licence of the same class within 2 years of its expiry.

The provider's fees page lists CA$214.00 for the initial licence category, which includes the core manual and one category module, and CA$192.00 for each additional category taken within 12 months of passing the core exam. A rewrite after a failure is CA$82.00 and must happen within 12 months, with a maximum of two attempts of each exam in any period of six months. Rescheduling is allowed once without a penalty with at least 48 hours notice, and a second reschedule costs CA$82.00. Payment must be received before study material is sent. The provider's page on licence categories says there are 12 categories under the three types.

The ministry lists licence fees: exterminator CA$90 and operator CA$200. The application is online through an Ontario.ca Login and a ministry profile, and the licence arrives as a digital copy.

Renewal

An exterminator licence is valid for five years from issue. The renewal window opens 90 days before the expiry date shown on the licence, and renewal is online. Inaccurate details on a licence are to be updated within 10 days of the change at no charge, according to the ministry. The pages read list no continuing education credits.

Operator licence and insurance

The ministry page says an operator must be a licensed exterminator or employ licensed exterminators, and must carry appropriate insurance for the pesticide business. The application includes a copy of the insurance policy, a list of business locations with a licensed exterminator in charge for each, the exterminators employed, officers and directors, and the vehicles used, with a vehicle identification sticker mailed afterward. The guide summarises the insurance rule from Regulation 63/09 section 93: comprehensive liability coverage and pollution coverage, with the minimums rising on January 1, 2021 to CA$2,000,000 and CA$1,000,000, plus a 30 day notice clause before cancellation. It also says an operator covered under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, and paying premiums, does not need the employee liability part. The guide says an operator licence expires on December 31 of the year it was issued unless renewed.

Reciprocity

The ministry says a person licensed outside Ontario still has to be licensed in Ontario to apply pesticides commercially. An out-of-province licence may be treated as equivalent through the labour mobility process: the applicant sends a copy of the other certificate, states where it was issued and its category, attests that it is in good standing, shows proof of purchase of the Ridgetown training materials and pays a pro-rated fee of CA$1.50 per month. An Ontario licence is issued immediately if the certificate is considered the same occupation, running to the other certificate's expiry. The page also describes a one-time deemed certification of 6 months under Ontario Regulation 199/25.