Ontario's concrete finisher apprenticeship under its official name, Cement (Concrete) Finisher 244G: Grade 10 entry, two levels, 4,020 hours on the job plus 480 hours of technical training, voluntary status in Ontario, and the Red Seal exam.
Applies in: Ontario
In Ontario, a concrete finisher apprentice registers under the trade name Cement (Concrete) Finisher, code 244G. Find a concrete contractor willing to sponsor you, register the apprenticeship with Skilled Trades Ontario, and work through two levels that combine 4,020 hours on the job with 480 hours of technical training, 4,500 hours 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 Concrete Finisher, recognized across Canada.
The name causes the first confusion. Job postings say concrete finisher. The Ontario system says Cement (Concrete) Finisher 244G. They are the same apprenticeship. Skilled Trades Ontario lists Cement (Concrete) Finisher 244G as a Red Seal trade under the title Concrete Finisher, and its exam preparation material maps the Ontario name to the Red Seal name. Use code 244G whenever a form asks for the trade, and expect Concrete Finisher on the national exam material.
The second point matters just as much. Cement (Concrete) Finisher is a non-compulsory trade in Ontario. Nobody needs a licence or certificate to finish concrete in this province, and you can work in concrete finishing 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. The non-compulsory status has a practical consequence Skilled Trades Ontario states on the trade page: the certificate does not have to be renewed, and practitioners do not appear on the Public Register. Do not assume the Ontario rule travels with you. Job Bank records concrete finisher certification as compulsory in Quebec and voluntary in the other provinces and territories it lists. 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 installing concrete structures including interior floors and exterior pavements, using a variety of methods of construction to produce a variety of finishes, colours, and textures in residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial buildings. A cement (concrete) finisher prepares, forms, reinforces, places, levels, finishes, cures, and joints all types of concrete flatwork, operates powered equipment including ride-on finishing machines and laser-guided screeds, specializes in horizontal concrete surface finishes from traditional trowel finishes to exposed aggregate, imprinted, pigmented, stained, dyed, and polished concrete, and repairs and restores existing concrete surfaces and structures. The work is flatwork: floors, pavements, and slabs, not the vertical formwork and pouring that belong to other trades.
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 concrete 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 4,500 hours: 4,020 hours of on-the-job training and 480 hours of technical training across two 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 in-school training covers two levels of theoretical training, including pictorial drawings, trade calculations and layout tools, hand tools and powered equipment operation, placing, screeding and finishing technology, concrete curing, jointing and protection, concrete, epoxy, self-levelling and other specialty flooring materials, concrete restoration and repair, and liquid-applied floor systems. Depending on the training delivery agency, it may be available as block release full-time for a set number of weeks, day release one day per week from September to June, part-time night-school programs, or alternative delivery such as online or correspondence. 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. Attend when invited through the training system, keep your logbook current, and make sure your recorded hours match what your sponsor reports. Concrete sets on its own schedule, and the classroom topics around curing, jointing, and protection exist because a finish ruined by bad curing cannot be fixed by working it longer.
Cement (Concrete) Finisher 244G 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 Concrete Finisher, passing the exam also carries the Red Seal endorsement, which is the credential recognized in every province and territory. Job Bank confirms the same national picture for concrete finishers: the Red Seal endorsement is available on successful completion of the interprovincial Red Seal examination.
Experienced finishers 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. This guide deliberately quotes no hours figure for that route: the Trade Qualifier guide records 4,980 hours for this trade, against the 4,500-hour apprenticeship total in the June 2026 chart, and the two figures were not reconciled at the time of writing. Check the current Trade Qualifier application guide before relying on the assessment route.
Do not start work assuming the Ontario voluntary status applies everywhere in Canada. Quebec treats concrete finisher certification as compulsory, so check the destination province before you move for work. Do not confuse this trade with Precast Concrete Erector or Precast Concrete Finisher, separate Ontario trades, or with Concrete Pump Operator, which is its own 637C trade. 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.
Cement (Concrete) Finisher, trade code 244G. Concrete finisher is the Red Seal name for the same trade: Skilled Trades Ontario states that in Ontario the trade is part of the Interprovincial Red Seal Program under the title Concrete Finisher. That split explains why registration forms use Cement (Concrete) Finisher 244G while the national exam material says Concrete Finisher. When a form asks for the trade, put down the code. It removes the ambiguity entirely.
The program is 4,500 hours: 4,020 hours of on-the-job training and 480 hours of technical training, delivered across two levels. The apprenticeship programs chart marks the trade as hours-based, which means you complete the full prescribed on-the-job hours rather than progressing on competency sign-off alone. Job Bank describes the occupation's route as a two- to four-year apprenticeship program, or over three years of work experience in the trade and some high school, college, or industry courses in cement finishing. The hours are the fixed part; the calendar time follows how steadily concrete work is available, and concrete work is weather-dependent.
No. Cement (Concrete) Finisher 244G is non-compulsory in Ontario. Skilled Trades Ontario states the consequence plainly on the trade page: because the trade is non-compulsory, the certificate does not have to be renewed, and the information of individuals practising the trade will not appear on the Skilled Trades Ontario Public Register. Job Bank records the national position for NOC 73100 the same way for Ontario: trade certification for cement masons is available, but voluntary, in Ontario, while concrete finisher certification is compulsory in Quebec. Do not assume the Ontario rule travels with you to Quebec.
Grade 10 is the academic entry grade listed in the Skilled Trades Ontario apprenticeship programs chart for Cement (Concrete) Finisher 244G. 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. Concrete work is physical and time-pressured: a slab waits for no one once the pour starts, and sponsors hire for reliability under that pressure.
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 and experience at least equal to the required training time, supported by work experience verifications from references who saw the work. This guide does not quote a required-hours figure for the assessment route, because the Trade Qualifier guide's figure for this trade differs from the apprenticeship chart total, and that conflict is flagged for a second check. Check the current Trade Qualifier application guide before relying on that route.
Where a figure could not be verified on a Skilled Trades Ontario or Job Bank page at the time of writing — any examination fee, any wage figure, and the Trade Equivalency Assessment hours figure, which conflicts between the Trade Qualifier guide (4,980 hours) and the apprenticeship chart (4,500 hours) — this guide says so and points to the Skilled Trades Ontario pages instead of carrying a secondary source's figure. Check those pages before you pay anything or rely on an assessment-hours figure.