The Ontario bricklayer apprenticeship under its official trade name, Brick and Stone Mason 401A: Grade 10 entry, three levels, 4,880 hours on the job plus 720 hours of technical training, voluntary status in Ontario, and the Red Seal exam.
Applies in: Ontario
In Ontario, a bricklayer apprentice registers under the trade name Brick and Stone Mason, code 401A. Find a masonry employer willing to sponsor you, register the apprenticeship with Skilled Trades Ontario, and work through three levels that combine 4,880 hours on the job with 720 hours of technical training, about three years in total. At the end, the trade has a certifying exam, and passing it earns a Certificate of Qualification with the Red Seal endorsement under the name Bricklayer, recognized across Canada.
The name causes the first confusion. Job postings say bricklayer. The Ontario system says Brick and Stone Mason 401A. They are the same apprenticeship. Skilled Trades Ontario lists Brick and Stone Mason 401A as a Red Seal trade, and its exam preparation material maps the Ontario name Brick and Stone Mason to the Red Seal name Bricklayer. Use code 401A whenever a form asks for the trade, and expect Bricklayer on the national exam material.
The second point matters just as much. Brick and Stone Mason is a non-compulsory trade in Ontario. Nobody needs a licence or certificate to lay brick in this province, and you can work in masonry without ever registering. The apprenticeship is not permission to work. It is structured training, a logbook of signed-off skills, a Certificate of Apprenticeship, and the path to the certifying exam and the Red Seal endorsement. Do not assume the Ontario rule travels with you. The Job Bank records trade certification for bricklayers as compulsory in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and voluntary in the other provinces and the Yukon. If Quebec is in your plans, the certification requirement there is a different conversation.
What the trade covers, in Skilled Trades Ontario's own description, is building and repairing walls, floors, arches, pavings, partitions, fireplaces, chimneys, smokestacks, and other structures, working with brick, natural stone, manufactured stone, tile, precast masonry panels, glass block, concrete block, lightweight insulated panels, other masonry units, insulation, and membranes, mostly on industrial, commercial, institutional, and residential buildings.
The sponsor comes first. Skilled Trades Ontario is clear that an apprenticeship begins when you sign a Training Agreement with a sponsor and register it, and that finding a sponsor is the key first step. A sponsor can be an individual employer, such as a masonry contractor, or a group of employers, such as a union or consortium.
The application steps, from Skilled Trades Ontario's start-an-apprenticeship page, are:
The program totals 5,600 hours: 4,880 hours of on-the-job training, described as approximately three years, and 720 hours of technical training, described as six months across three levels. The apprenticeship programs chart marks the trade as hours-based, which means you must complete the on-the-job training for the entire duration of the prescribed hours, and hours-based trades carry a ratio of one journeyperson to one apprentice.
The rhythm is work, then a block of technical training, then work again. About 80 per cent of an Ontario apprenticeship is paid work on the job and about 20 per cent is classroom learning, according to Skilled Trades Ontario. Technical training sessions typically run 8 to 12 weeks in Ontario apprenticeships generally, and the masonry technical training is spread across the three levels rather than taken up front. Attend when invited through the training system, keep your logbook current, and make sure your recorded hours match what your sponsor reports.
Brick and Stone Mason 401A has a certifying exam. Skilled Trades Ontario issues a Certificate of Apprenticeship when you complete the apprenticeship program, and a Certificate of Qualification when you pass the certifying exam. Because the trade is part of the Interprovincial Red Seal Program under the title Bricklayer, passing the exam also carries the Red Seal endorsement, which is the credential recognized in every province and territory.
Experienced masons who never registered have a parallel door. The Trade Equivalency Assessment lets experienced tradespeople document equivalent qualifications or experience and seek the Certificate of Qualification without completing the apprenticeship. The application guide requires verifiable evidence of competency against the Training Standard and experience at least equal to the required training time, supported by work experience verifications from references who know the work first-hand.
Do not start work assuming the Ontario voluntary status applies everywhere in Canada. Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick treat bricklayer certification as compulsory, so check the destination province before you move for work. Do not confuse this trade with Restoration Mason, a separate Ontario trade, or with concrete finishing, which has its own program. Do not let months of site work go unrecorded. In an hours-based trade, unrecorded hours are hours you may have to work again, so keep the logbook signed and the hours submitted. And do not pay for a course that promises the certificate on its own. The certificate comes through Skilled Trades Ontario on completion of the program and the certifying exam, not through a private training provider alone.
Brick and Stone Mason, trade code 401A. Bricklayer is the Red Seal name for the same trade. That split explains why registration forms use Brick and Stone Mason 401A while the national exam material says Bricklayer. When a form asks for the trade, put down the code. It removes the ambiguity entirely.
About three years. Skilled Trades Ontario records 4,880 hours of on-the-job training and 720 hours of technical training, 5,600 hours in total, delivered across three levels. The technical training is described as six months spread across the three levels. Because the program is hours-based, you complete the full on-the-job hours rather than progressing on competency sign-off alone.
No. Brick and Stone Mason 401A is non-compulsory in Ontario. You do not need to be a registered apprentice or a certificate holder to work in the trade here, though registration is still how you get the structured training, the Certificate of Apprenticeship, and the certifying exam. Elsewhere the rule flips: Job Bank lists bricklayer certification as compulsory in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and voluntary in the other provinces and the Yukon. Check the destination province before you move for work.
Grade 10 is the academic entry grade listed in the Skilled Trades Ontario apprenticeship programs chart for Brick and Stone Mason 401A. Skilled Trades Ontario also requires apprentices to be at least 16 years old, to have legal permission to work in Canada, and to have a sponsor in Ontario. In practice the sponsor decides whether to take you on, so a resume, reliable transport, and some site experience or a pre-apprenticeship course can matter as much as the grade minimum.
First find a sponsor, an employer or group sponsor responsible for your training. Then apply: if you are 18 or older, apply online through the Skilled Trades Ontario Portal; if you are 16 or 17, or you cannot apply online, complete the paper Application for Apprenticeship Training, signed by you, a parent or guardian if you are under 18, and your sponsor, and submit it to Skilled Trades Ontario. Once approved, you and your sponsor sign a Training Agreement, which registers you as an apprentice, and you receive a Registered Apprentice Wallet Card.
Yes, through the Trade Equivalency Assessment. It exists for tradespeople who never completed an Ontario apprenticeship but hold equivalent qualifications or experience and want an Ontario Certificate of Qualification. The bar is documented proof: competency against the Training Standard, experience at least equal to the required training time, and work experience verifications from references who saw the work. The assessment fee in the application guide is 265.55 dollars including HST.