How to Become a Painter in Canada

Painters prepare surfaces and apply coatings on the inside and outside of buildings, across residential, commercial, and industrial work. It is a skilled Red Seal trade, and the certified, commercial-and-industrial-coatings end is where the skill and the pay concentrate. Here is the path from getting started to a certified journeyperson.

Understand the trade

Job Bank classifies this trade under NOC 73112, Painters and decorators, except interior decorators. That exclusion is worth understanding: this is the building-trade painter. It is not interior decorating (NOC 52121), not automotive or auto-body refinishing, and not art painting (NOC 53122). If you paint buildings, this is your trade.

Apprentice, or challenge with experience

• Register a painter and decorator apprenticeship with a painting contractor, combining on-the-job hours with technical training
• Or, with enough documented trade experience, challenge the certification exam directly
• Learn surface prep, coatings, brush, roller, and spray application, and working safely at heights

Get certified (the Red Seal anchor)

Painter and decorator is a Red Seal trade, and certification is what employers look for.

• Trade certification is a compulsory certificate of qualification in Quebec, and available but voluntary in the other provinces and territories
• Red Seal endorsement is available on passing the interprovincial exam, which enables mobility across Canada

Learn the coatings and skills

• Surface prep: scraping, sanding, sandblasting, and hydro-blasting
• Application: brush, roller, and spray
• Coatings: stain, lacquer, enamel, varnish, metal coating, and fire retardant, plus wallpaper
• Working at heights and on scaffolding

Land your first role

Apply to painting contractors, building-maintenance contractors, and subcontractor rosters. Emphasize any surface-prep, spray, or commercial and industrial coatings experience, and be clear about your certification or your plan to earn it. The trade is seasonal, so hiring peaks from spring through summer, and crews recruit in waves. Set up a job alert on a board built for the trade so new openings reach you before they fill.

Sources: Job Bank Canada (NOC 73112), the Red Seal program, and provincial apprenticeship authorities.