Worker’s Frequently Asked Questions
More opportunities for certified workers to
work anywhere in Canada
As a certified worker, you can work in any other Canadian province or territory where opportunities exist within the same regulated occupation.
Workers’ certification must generally be recognized by all other provinces and territories that regulate the same occupation, without requiring additional material training, experience, examination or assessment of qualifications. In some cases, additional material requirements for specific occupations have been approved by a government and publicly posted.
Workers’ Frequently Ask Questions (FAQ) on Labour Mobility
This FAQ section is a compilation of the most common questions from certified workers about labour mobility in Canada.
Labour mobility allows certified workers such as nurses, teachers, and accountants to practice their regulated occupation anywhere in Canada without having to undertake additional material requirements for training, education, examinations or assessments.
Generally, any worker certified in one province or territory must, upon application, be certified for their occupation in another province or territory without having to undergo additional material training, experience, examination or assessment of qualifications.
You are certified if you have a certificate, licence, registration, or any other form of official recognition issued by a Canadian provincial or territorial regulatory authority, that allows you to work or hold a specific title in a regulated occupation in your province or territory. Certified workers may also be referred to as regulated, registered or licenced workers.
Workers in an occupation for which certification is NOT required are not considered certified workers. For example, actors, flight attendants, and university lecturers are not considered certified workers.
Please note it is possible that your occupation may be regulated in one province or territory but not in another. If you are unsure whether your occupation is regulated in a specific province or territory, please contact the Labour Mobility Coordinator for the province/territory in which you are certified.
Similar occupations or skilled trades may have different names or titles throughout Canada. If names or titles for your occupation differ between provinces or territories, you may still be entitled to be certified in a province or territory that uses a different name or title if the responsibilities and scope of practice are similar. However, the same or similar titles or names can also be used Canada-wide for professions or trades with major differences. In this case, certificates may not be equivalent.
To be a certified worker, you need to be certified by a provincial or territorial regulatory authority. This is not the same as a national professional association or a provincial/territorial professional association.
If you only have membership in a national or provincial/territorial professional association, then you would not be considered a certified worker. National or provincial/territorial associations have different roles, which are to represent their members and to lobby on their behalf.
A regulatory authority sets the standards for an occupation in a province or territory to protect the public. This means that the regulatory authority determines what knowledge, skills, and abilities you need to safely practice that occupation.
Under the CFTA, labour mobility does not cover non-certified workers. Non-certified includes:
- Workers who are not yet certified or are in the process of becoming certified. Examples include apprentices, interns, articling, or student categories.
- Workers in non-regulated occupations, such as actors, university lecturers, etc.
The term “regulated occupation” is not defined in the CFTA. The CFTA defines an “occupation” as “a set of jobs that, with some variation, are similar in their main tasks or duties or in the type of work performed.” For the purposes of the guidance on this website, a regulated occupation is a profession or skilled trade (with or without Red Seal endorsement) that is covered under a province or territory’s legislation (acts, regulations, codes, rules, etc.) and overseen by a regulatory authority for public protection. A regulatory authority defines what a worker can and cannot do as part of their work and what title they can use. Doctors, engineers, welders, roofers, industrial mechanics, and electricians are all examples of certified workers in regulated occupations.
In some cases, an occupation may be regulated in some provinces and territories but not in others. Psychotherapists are an example of this.
Contact your Labour Mobility Coordinator if you are unsure whether your occupation is regulated in a specific province or territory.
Regulatory authorities are responsible, through law, for defining what can and cannot be done as part of a regulated occupation. Their roles may include, among other purposes, ensuring public safety, consumer protection, and/or maintaining the occupation’s integrity. Each province or territory is responsible for adopting the occupational standards they believe best serve the public interest.
Regulatory authorities may determine occupational standards for entry to practice and post-certification requirements. This means they determine the knowledge, skills and abilities a certified worker needs for a specific occupation.
The responsibilities of a regulatory authority are set in legislation. For many occupations, the authority to regulate has been delegated from the provincial/territorial government to a non-governmental entity, such as a self-regulating college, association, or other similar organization. Some occupations are directly regulated by either federal or provincial/territorial governments.
National or provincial/territorial professional associations have different roles, which are to represent their members and lobby on their behalf.
In this situation, you would be required to meet the occupation’s certification requirements set by the other province or territory’s regulatory authority. The occupation needs to be regulated in both the sending and the receiving province/territory for “certificate-to-certificate” recognition to apply.
If a province or territory does not regulate an occupation, you do not need to be certified to practice your occupation there.
If you have questions or concerns about labour mobility under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement or your certification being recognized by another province or territory’s regulatory authority, contact the Labour Mobility Coordinator in your province or territory.
First, as explained in more detail below, review A Worker’s Guide to Labour Mobility to see what regulatory authorities may ask you to provide. Then visit the regulatory authority’s website for the province or territory where you would like to be certified. Contact the regulator directly if you cannot find the labour mobility application and/or the information you require online. The regulatory authority in your home province or territory may have links to those in other provinces/territories on their website.
If you do not know the name of the regulatory authority and need assistance, please contact the Labour Mobility Coordinator in the province or territory where you would like to be certified.
In most cases, before you can work in another province or territory you will need to complete an application and receive certification in that province/territory.
For more information about these requirements, please see A Worker’s Guide to Labour Mobility. This document was developed to help workers know what a regulator can ask from labour mobility applicants.
Check labour mobility application requirements with the regulatory authority in the province or territory where you wish to work. Permissible requirements for the application process could include a regulator asking you to:
- complete an application,
- pay an application or processing fee,
- obtain insurance, malpractice coverage, or similar protection,
- post a bond,
- undergo a criminal background check,
- provide evidence of good character,
- prove that you understand the specific laws of the province or territory related to the practice of your occupation (e.g., jurisprudence exam),
- provide proof from the regulatory authority in each province or territory where you are currently certified confirming that your certification is in good standing, and
- provide proof of proficiency in English or French if you did not have to meet an equivalent proficiency requirement to be certified in your current province of territory.
Yes. Trades occupations can be covered under labour mobility provisions of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement. You need to be certified in your trade to qualify for “certificate-to-certificate” recognition.
Contact the regulatory authority in the province or territory where you wish to be certified to see if you must register or apply for a licence or certificate in that province/territory before you can work.
If you need contact information for a regulatory authority, check with the regulatory authority for your occupation in your home province or territory. There may be a link to regulators in other provinces/territories on their website. If you still cannot find the information, please contact the Labour Mobility Coordinator in your current province or territory.
No, you do not need a Red Seal endorsement. Provincial/territorial trade certification, with or without the Red Seal endorsement, may qualify for labour mobility under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement.
No. Workers in training, like apprentices, do not qualify for labour mobility under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement.
Apprentices may instead benefit from the Provincial-Territorial Apprentice Mobility Agreement. For information on apprentice mobility, contact the apprenticeship authority in your province or territory.
Application processing times can vary. Visit the regulator’s website in the province or territory where you wish to be certified or contact the regulatory authority directly for more information.
No, you do not need to live in a particular province or territory to qualify for labour mobility. You cannot be denied certification based on residency.
The Canadian Free Trade Agreement applies to all workers in regulated occupations certified in Canada. If you currently hold a valid certification for your occupation from a regulatory authority in Canada, you qualify for labour mobility whether you are trained in Canada or internationally.
If you qualify for labour mobility, you generally cannot be required to undergo any additional material training, experience, examinations or assessments as part of the certification process. In some cases, additional requirements for specific occupations have been approved by a government and publicly posted here.
If you have questions or concerns about certification recognition in another province or territory, please contact the Labour Mobility Coordinator where you are currently certified.
