Based on the Red Seal Heavy Equipment Operator (Excavator) exam blueprint: safe work, inspection and maintenance, excavator operation, trenching, lifting and loading
Practice on the go and jump straight back to where you left off.
About the certification
In Ontario, Heavy Equipment Operator – Excavator is trade code 636B, a non-compulsory trade administered by Skilled Trades Ontario. The apprenticeship is 2,560 hours: 2,260 on the job and 300 in school. Across Canada it is the Red Seal trade Heavy Equipment Operator (Excavator), so passing the Certificate of Qualification exam also earns the interprovincial Red Seal endorsement.
The Red Seal exam has 100 multiple-choice questions in 3 blocks: common occupational skills (23 questions), excavator inspection and basic maintenance (26) and excavator operator tasks (51). Operating excavators is the heaviest task with 27 questions. Between 50 and 60% of the questions test knowledge and recall, 35 to 45% procedural and application, and under 10% critical thinking. The Red Seal self-assessment guide gives the pass mark as 70%.
ExamHub's free 636B practice quiz has 210 original questions weighted to the real exam blocks and tasks, with an explanation and a source for every answer. Safety questions use Ontario's Construction Projects regulation (O. Reg. 213/91) and the Ontario underground locate rules, and a few are labelled as BC rules for comparison.
What's covered
Categories follow the 8 Red Seal exam tasks, weighted like the real exam.
Try a few
Five sample questions from the question bank, with the answer and explanation.
Why: Under the table to s. 188(2) of O. Reg. 213/91, the minimum distance is 3 m for conductors from 750 volts up to 150,000 volts, 4.5 m above 150,000 up to 250,000 volts, and 6 m above 250,000 volts.
Why: Section 94 requires a competent worker to inspect mechanically powered equipment rated at more than 10 horsepower to see if it can handle its rated capacity and to identify defects. The inspection happens before first use at the project and thereafter at least once a year or more frequently as the manufacturer recommends.
Why: The glossary defines swell as the increase in bulk of soil or rock when it is dug. Loose volume = 20 × (1 + 0.30) = 26 m³. Subtracting the swell gives 14 m³, and adding 30 m³ instead of 30% gives 50 m³.
Why: Section 235(2) says where a trench is more than 6 m deep or more than 3.6 m wide, the support system shall be an engineered support system designed for the specific location and project. Prefabricated and hydraulic systems cannot be substituted.
Why: Key competency C-6.06.01 is to stop the equipment, lower the implement and attachment, lock out (hydraulics, transmission, brakes) and perform engine shut-down. Securing the machine this way prevents any motion while the operator leaves and responds to the emergency.
FAQ
The Red Seal Heavy Equipment Operator (Excavator) exam has 100 multiple-choice questions. ExamHub's bank has 210 questions, and Test Mode draws a 100-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.
3 blocks: common occupational skills (23 questions), excavator inspection and basic maintenance (26), and excavator operator tasks (51). The tasks with the most questions are operating excavators (27), performing basic excavator functions (17) and performing scheduled maintenance (14).
No. Heavy Equipment Operator (Excavator) (636B) 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.