Based on the Red Seal Instrumentation and Control Technician standard: measurement, safety systems, valves, networks, PLCs and process control
Practice on the go and jump straight back to where you left off.
About the certification
In Ontario, Instrumentation and Control Technician is trade code 447A, a non-compulsory trade administered by Skilled Trades Ontario. The apprenticeship is 8,000 hours: 7,280 on the job and 720 in school. Across Canada it is the Red Seal trade Instrumentation and Control Technician, so passing the Certificate of Qualification exam also earns the interprovincial Red Seal endorsement.
The Red Seal exam has 125 multiple-choice questions in 7 blocks: common occupational skills (12 questions), process measuring and indicating devices (30), safety and security systems (11), hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical systems (14), final control elements (25), communication systems (12) and control systems and process control (21). Between 25 and 30% of the questions test knowledge and recall, 40 to 45% procedural and application, and 25 to 30% critical thinking. The Red Seal self-assessment guide gives the pass mark as 70%.
ExamHub's free 447A practice quiz has 202 original questions weighted to the real exam blocks, with an explanation and a source for every answer. The questions follow the 2020 Red Seal Occupational Standard and use free public sources, including Ontario's Industrial Establishments regulation (O. Reg. 851) for the safety content. Calculation questions (4 to 20 mA scaling, differential pressure, ratios, gas laws and Ohm's law) are worked in the explanations.
What's covered
Categories follow the 7 Red Seal exam blocks (A to G), weighted like the real exam.
Try a few
Five sample questions from the question bank, with the answer and explanation.
Why: Flow varies with the square root of DP. DP is 25% of full scale, and √0.25 = 0.5, so the flow is 50% of 100 m³/h. A DP of 25% does not mean 25% flow.
Why: A 2oo3 structure needs two sensors to agree. One failed sensor cannot cause a spurious trip alone, and the two good sensors can still trip the function, so it tolerates a single failure in both directions.
Why: On a direct-acting actuator, air on top of the diaphragm pushes the stem down to close a globe valve against the spring, so a loss of air lets the spring open it. A reverse-acting actuator does the opposite.
Why: An air-to-open steam valve needs less signal to give less heat. A rising measurement must therefore reduce the output, which is reverse action. Direct action raises the output when the measurement rises.
Why: An unfastened portable ladder must be inclined so the horizontal distance from the top support to the foot is not less than 1/4 and not more than 1/3 of its length. For 6 m that is 1.5 m to 2.0 m, so 1.8 m is acceptable. A ladder over 6 m that is not fastened must also be held by a worker.
FAQ
The Red Seal Instrumentation and Control Technician exam has 125 multiple-choice questions. ExamHub's bank has 202 questions, and Test Mode draws a 125-question timed simulation.
The Red Seal self-assessment guide for this trade gives the pass mark as 70%. The Red Seal exam page does not state a time limit, and ExamHub's Test Mode allows up to 4 hours.
7 blocks: common occupational skills (12 questions), process measuring and indicating devices (30), safety and security systems and devices (11), hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical systems (14), final control elements (25), communication systems and devices (12) and control systems and process control (21).
No. Instrumentation and Control Technician (447A) is a non-compulsory trade in Ontario. Skilled Trades Ontario issues the Certificate of Qualification when the exam is passed, and the trade is part of the Red Seal program.
No. These are original practice questions written from the Red Seal standard and free public sources. They are not copies of exam questions.