Ontario's terrazzo, tile and marble setter apprenticeship, trade code 241A: Grade 10 entry, two levels, 4,880 hours on the job plus 720 hours of technical training, voluntary status in Ontario, and the certifying exam with a Red Seal endorsement.
Applies in: Ontario
In Ontario, a terrazzo, tile and marble setter apprentice registers under the trade name Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Setter, code 241A. Find a tile, terrazzo, or stone contractor willing to sponsor you, register the apprenticeship with Skilled Trades Ontario, and work through two levels that combine 4,880 hours on the job with 720 hours of technical training, 5,600 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 Tilesetter, recognized across Canada.
The name causes the first confusion. Job postings say tilesetter, tile setter, or marble setter. The Ontario system says Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Setter 241A. They are the same apprenticeship. Skilled Trades Ontario lists Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Setter 241A as a Red Seal trade, and its classification page ties the trade to the national occupation Tilesetter. Use code 241A whenever a form asks for the trade, and expect Tilesetter on the national exam material.
The second point matters just as much. Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Setter is a non-compulsory trade in Ontario. Nobody needs a licence or certificate to set tile in this province, and you can work in the trade 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. Job Bank records tilesetter certification as compulsory in Quebec and voluntary in all the other provinces named above. If Quebec is in your plans, the certification requirement there is a different conversation, and the regulator is the Commission de la construction du Québec.
What the trade covers, in Skilled Trades Ontario's own description, is covering interior and exterior walls and floors with terrazzo, tile, and marble by preparing, measuring, and marking the surface to be covered, mixing and applying mortar, mastic, cement, or other adhesives, using hand tools, laying mosaic tiles, and removing and replacing cracked or damaged tiles. Setters also use and maintain electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic power tools, interpret blueprints and specifications, set plumb, level, and square lines, prepare the sub-surface, install terrazzo and tile, mechanically install natural stone on walls, install natural stone indoors by the conventional or stacking method, and install natural stone slabs on floors and countertops. Three materials, one trade: the apprentice learns all three, because a bathroom, a lobby floor, and a stone countertop can all land on the same job.
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 tile contractor, a terrazzo firm, or a natural-stone installer, 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 and 720 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. The Ellis Chart records the Ontario ratio for this trade as one journeyperson to one apprentice, and 24 total weeks of technical training, which matches the 720 in-school hours. 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.
The rhythm is work, then a block of technical training, then work again. The in-school curriculum runs across terrazzo installation, tile installation, and natural-stone installation, alongside trade practices, blueprint reading and construction geometry, and construction techniques. Attend when invited through the training system, keep your logbook current, and make sure your recorded hours match what your sponsor reports. One visible training location is the Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Trade School in Concord, named as the training location in a YWCA Toronto tile-setter program; check the Skilled Trades Ontario trade page for current in-school scheduling before planning around a location or a date. Tile work punishes careless measuring in a way most trades do not: a cut tile cannot be uncut, and a floor laid out of square shows it in every grout line, which is why the logbook skills around layout, levelling, and cutting exist.
Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Setter 241A 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 Tilesetter, passing the exam also carries the Red Seal endorsement, which is the credential recognized in every province and territory.
Experienced tilesetters 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, 5,600 hours for this trade, 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 treats tilesetter certification as compulsory, so check the destination province before you move for work. Do not confuse this trade with Bricklayer, which is masonry work, or with Floor Covering Installer, which covers vinyl and carpet rather than tile, terrazzo, and stone. 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.
Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Setter, trade code 241A. That is the Ontario trade name in the Skilled Trades Ontario apprenticeship programs chart. The national occupation name is Tilesetter, National Occupational Classification 73101, and job postings use tilesetter, tile setter, marble setter, and terrazzo setter for the same work. When a form asks for the trade, put down 241A. It removes the ambiguity entirely, and it separates this trade from Bricklayer and from Floor Covering Installer, which are different Ontario trades.
The program is 5,600 hours: 4,880 hours of on-the-job training and 720 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 three- or four-year apprenticeship program, or a combination of over three years of work experience in the trade and some high school, college, or industry courses in tilesetting. The hours are the fixed part; the calendar time follows how steadily the work comes.
No. Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Setter 241A is non-compulsory in Ontario. You do not need to be a registered apprentice or a certificate holder to set tile, terrazzo, or marble in this province, though registration is still how you get the structured training, the Certificate of Apprenticeship, and the certifying exam. Job Bank records the national position for tilesetters the same way: trade certification for tilesetters is compulsory in Quebec and available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. 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 Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Setter 241A. 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. Job Bank describes completion of secondary school as usually required for the occupation nationally, so treat Grade 10 as the floor, not the competitive standard: a diploma, and comfort with measuring, geometry, and reading drawings, will matter to a sponsor deciding whether to take you on. The in-school training runs on blueprint reading and construction geometry, so math and technical reading are worth arriving with.
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, which the Trade Qualifier guide records as 5,600 hours for this trade, supported by work experience verifications from references who saw the work. Check the current Trade Qualifier application guide before relying on that route, because the evidence bar is documentary.
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 calendar length of the technical training blocks — this guide says so and points to the Skilled Trades Ontario trade page instead of carrying a secondary source's figure. Check that page before you pay anything or plan around a date.