Cook: Red Seal trade guide
What a cook does, apprenticeship hours by province, the Red Seal exam, and Job Bank wages and outlooks, with links to every official source.
Independent guide: TradeCareersHub.com is not part of the Red Seal Program or any government, and the Red Seal Program does not endorse any test preparation companies. Every number here comes from an official source listed at the end of the page. Rules change, so confirm with your apprenticeship authority.
Updated: Oct 2026. Wages: Job Bank 2025 wages, revised November 19, 2025. Outlooks: Job Bank 2025–2027, published December 10, 2025.
At a glance
- NOC code
- 63200 (Cooks)
- Red Seal since
- 1964
- Red Seal in
- AB, BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, NT, NU, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT
- Other titles
- Professional Cook 3 (BC); Cook - Level 2 (QC)
- Red Seal exam
- 150 multiple-choice questions, 70% to pass
- Median wage (Canada)
- $18.00 an hour (Job Bank 2025)
What the job is
The Red Seal Program describes the trade this way:
Cooks prepare, cook, season and present a wide variety of foods such as meat, fish, poultry, game, pasta, pulses, grains, nuts, dairy products, eggs, vegetables, fruit, stocks, soups, sauces, salads, desserts and baked goods. Cooks may plan menus, determine the size of food portions and estimate food requirements and cost, as well as monitor and order supplies, and oversee others in the preparation, cooking and handling of food.
Red Seal status
Cook has been a Red Seal trade since 1964. The Red Seal endorsement is available in: AB, BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, NT, NU, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT.
The Red Seal Occupational Standard (RSOS) is the official description of the trade, and the exam is built from it. Read it on the Red Seal Cook page (opens in a new tab).
New exams based on the new standard are being implemented; check with your provincial/territorial apprenticeship authority.
Apprenticeship by province and territory
Most provinces and territories that train this trade list 5,400 total hours on the Ellis Chart. Each province and territory runs its own program, so the number of levels, total hours and whether certification is required all vary. The table below is from the Ellis Chart for Cook (opens in a new tab).
| Province or territory | Levels | Total hours | Certification | Trade qualifier hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 3 | 5,400 | Voluntary | 8,100 |
| Prince Edward Island | 3 | 5,400 | Voluntary | 8,100 |
| Nova Scotia | 3 | 5,400 | Voluntary | 8,100 |
| New Brunswick | 3 | 4,820 | Voluntary | 8,100 |
| Quebec | — | 20 months | Voluntary | — |
| Ontario | 2 | 6,000 | Voluntary | 6,000 |
| Manitoba | 3 | 5,400 | Voluntary | 8,100 |
| Saskatchewan | 3 | 5,400 | Voluntary | 8,100 |
| Alberta | 3 | 5,400 | Voluntary | 7,020 |
| British Columbia | 3 | 5,540 | Voluntary | 5,000 |
| Yukon | 3 | 5,400 | Voluntary | 8,100 |
| Northwest Territories | 3 | 5,400 | Voluntary | 7,200 |
| Nunavut | 3 | 5,400 | Voluntary | 7,200 |
How to read this: Compulsory means only certified journeypersons or registered apprentices may do the work there. Voluntary means certification isn't legally required. Trade qualifier hours is the work experience the Ellis Chart lists for people who have worked in the trade but haven't finished a Canadian apprenticeship (see the challenge route). A dash means the Ellis Chart lists no figure. Quebec runs its own system, so its figures aren't laid out the same way; check with the Quebec authority.
The Red Seal exam
The Red Seal Cook exam has 150 multiple-choice questions. Questions are split across the trade's major work activities as shown below. The Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide says each question has four options, the pass mark is 70% and you have 4 hours. Read our Red Seal exam guide for booking, retakes and study tips.
| Major work activity | Questions |
|---|---|
| Hygiene, sanitation and safety | 13 |
| Common occupational skills | 11 |
| Produce | 12 |
| Stocks, broths and soups | 12 |
| Sauces | 13 |
| Cheese, dairy, plant-based dairy alternatives, eggs and egg products | 10 |
| Pastas, noodles, stuffed pastas and dumplings | 10 |
| Grains, pulses, seeds, nuts and alternative proteins | 11 |
| Meats, game, poultry, game birds and variety meats | 16 |
| Fish and seafood | 15 |
| Salads and sandwiches | 9 |
| Specialty preparation | 8 |
| Sweet and savoury baked goods and desserts | 10 |
| Total | 150 |
By question type, red-seal.ca lists: knowledge and recall 30–40%, procedural and application 55–65%, critical thinking less than 10%.
Official prep: the Cook exam information page (opens in a new tab) has the breakdown, sample questions and a self-assessment tool, and the Red Seal Program — Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide (opens in a new tab) explains how the exams work.
Wages (Job Bank, 2025)
Hourly wages for NOC 63200, Cooks. That group can be broader than the Red Seal trade alone. Low is roughly the 10th percentile and high roughly the 90th; wages don't account for years of experience. A dash means Job Bank didn't publish a figure. Compare provinces with our wage comparison tool.
| Where | Low | Median | High | Data source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | $15.00 | $18.00 | $25.00 | Labour Force Survey |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $16.00 | $17.00 | $27.54 | Labour Force Survey |
| Prince Edward Island | $16.50 | $18.00 | $25.73 | Labour Force Survey |
| Nova Scotia | $16.50 | $17.00 | $22.50 | Labour Force Survey |
| New Brunswick | $15.65 | $16.40 | $22.00 | Labour Force Survey |
| Quebec | $16.10 | $18.00 | $25.00 | Labour Force Survey |
| Ontario | $17.60 | $18.00 | $24.00 | Labour Force Survey |
| Manitoba | $16.00 | $16.50 | $21.00 | Labour Force Survey |
| Saskatchewan | $15.35 | $17.00 | $23.08 | Labour Force Survey |
| Alberta | $15.00 | $17.50 | $23.50 | Labour Force Survey |
| British Columbia | $17.85 | $20.00 | $26.00 | Labour Force Survey |
| Yukon | $20.00 | $28.37 | $41.67 | Employment Insurance Survey Data |
| Northwest Territories | $18.50 | $25.00 | $37.50 | Employment Insurance Survey Data |
| Nunavut | $19.00 | $25.00 | $35.00 | Employment Insurance Survey Data |
Data as of November 19, 2025 (Job Bank 2025 wages). Labour Force Survey figures cover 2023–2024.
Job outlook, 2025–2027
Job Bank rates prospects for each occupation from Very good to Very limited. The ratings compare an occupation with others in the same province, so they can't be compared between provinces, and they don't measure labour shortages. The 2025–2027 outlooks cover the ten provinces; for the territories, see Job Bank's outlook search (opens in a new tab).
| Province | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Moderate |
| Prince Edward Island | Very good |
| Nova Scotia | Good |
| New Brunswick | Good |
| Quebec | Limited |
| Ontario | Limited |
| Manitoba | Moderate |
| Saskatchewan | Moderate |
| Alberta | Limited |
| British Columbia | Moderate |
Next steps
- How apprenticeship works in Canada, with every apprenticeship authority
- Who hires apprentices: employers and union training centres
- Safety tickets guide and our free Safety Basics course
- Free practice quizzes on safety and trade math (we don't have a sample for this trade yet)
- Free trade calculators, including an apprenticeship hours tracker
- Trades job board (listings from Job Bank)
FAQ
How long is a Cook apprenticeship?
The Ellis Chart lists 5,400 total hours for this trade in most provinces and territories. Different totals: New Brunswick 4,820; Ontario 6,000; British Columbia 5,540. Hours and levels change, so confirm with your apprenticeship authority.
How many questions are on the Red Seal Cook exam?
The Red Seal Cook exam has 150 multiple-choice questions, according to the trade's exam information page on red-seal.ca. The Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide gives a pass mark of 70% and a time limit of 4 hours.
How much does a Cook earn in Canada?
Job Bank's 2025 wages for NOC 63200 (Cooks) show a Canada-wide median of $18.00 an hour, with a low of $15.00 and a high of $25.00. Wages vary a lot by province and experience; see the table on this page.
Is Cook a compulsory trade?
The Ellis Chart lists it as voluntary everywhere it's offered, so certification isn't legally required to work in the trade, though many employers ask for it.
Sources
- Red Seal Program — Cook trade page (opens in a new tab)
- Red Seal Program — Cook exam information (opens in a new tab)
- Red Seal Program — Red Seal Exam Preparation Guide (opens in a new tab)
- Ellis Chart — Cook (opens in a new tab)
- Job Bank — Wages open data, 2025 Wages file (revised November 19, 2025), Open Government Portal (opens in a new tab)
- Job Bank — Questions and Answers on Wages (opens in a new tab)
- Job Bank — 3-Year Employment Outlooks, 2025–2027 (published December 10, 2025), Open Government Portal (opens in a new tab)
- Job Bank — 3-year Employment Outlooks: Questions and Answers (opens in a new tab)