# Traffic Control Person Training Requirements in Ontario ## Fast facts | Required by law? | **Competence plus written and oral instructions**O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 (4) | | --- | --- | | Approved provider required? | **No**O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 | | Does it expire? | **None in Ontario law**O. Reg. 213/91 | | Can it be verified? | **No public registry**O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 (5) | | How long is the training? | **Not prescribed**O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 (4) | | Also called | TCP, flagger, traffic control, road traffic controller | | Applies to | Construction projects | Last verified August 23, 2026 against the sources listed at the bottom of this page. ## Is traffic control person training required by law in Ontario? **Competence plus written and oral instructions.** A worker required to direct vehicular traffic must be a competent worker, must not perform any other work while doing it, must be positioned so as to be endangered as little as possible, and must be given adequate written and oral instructions in a language they understand, including a description of the signals to be used. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 (4) ## Does the training provider have to be government-approved? **No.** Ontario approves no traffic control person training providers or programs. Book 7 of the Ontario Traffic Manual is a Ministry of Transportation guidance document, not a regulation, and completing a course based on it is not a legal requirement in itself. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 ## Does traffic control person training expire in Ontario? **None in Ontario law.** There is no prescribed certificate, so there is nothing to expire. Any expiry date on a traffic control card comes from the training provider or the contract, not the regulation. O. Reg. 213/91 ### Refresher Ontario law prescribes no refresher. The instructions must be adequate and current for the project the worker is on, which in practice means new written instructions for a new traffic protection plan. ## How long is the training itself? **Not prescribed.** Ontario sets no minimum hours. The requirement is adequacy of the instructions and competence of the worker. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 (4) ## What has to be covered - A description of the signals the worker is to use - The employer's traffic protection plan for the project - Correct positioning relative to traffic ## How an employer proves it **No public registry.** There is no ministry lookup. What must exist on the project is the written instructions given to the worker. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 (5) ### What the employer has to keep - The written instructions given to the worker, kept at the project - A written traffic protection plan, kept at the project and made available to an inspector or a worker on request ## What people get wrong about traffic control person training ### Never more than one lane in the same direction A worker shall not direct vehicular traffic for more than one lane in the same direction. This is an absolute limit and no amount of training changes it. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 (2) ### Never above a 90 km/h posted limit A worker shall not direct vehicular traffic if the normal posted speed limit of the public way is more than 90 kilometres per hour. Above that, traffic must be managed some other way. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69 (3) ### The sign is specified to the millimetre The sign must be octagonal, 450 millimetres between opposite sides, on a pole 1.2 metres long, made of material at least as rigid as six millimetre plywood. One side is high-intensity retro-reflective red with STOP in high-intensity retro-reflective white letters 150 millimetres high. The other is high-intensity retro-reflective micro-prismatic fluorescent chartreuse with a black diamond border at least 317 by 317 millimetres and SLOW in black letters 120 millimetres high. It must be kept clean and legible. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 68 ### Directing traffic must be the only job The worker shall not perform any other work while directing traffic. The same rule applies to a worker setting up or removing traffic protection measures on a roadway or shoulder. O. Reg. 213/91, ss. 69 (4) (b) and 67 (6) (b) ### A written traffic protection plan is mandatory Every employer must develop in writing and implement a traffic protection plan for its workers at a project where any of them may be exposed to a hazard from vehicular traffic. It must specify the hazards and the protective measures used, and be kept at the project. O. Reg. 213/91, ss. 67 (4) and 67 (5) ### Signalling for equipment is a different duty A signaller assisting a vehicle or machine operator whose view is obstructed is a separate role with its own requirements: adequate oral training in the duties, adequate oral and written instructions in a language the worker understands, the written instructions kept at the project, and procedures established jointly with the operator. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 106 ### Barriers, not people, on longer freeway jobs Adequate barriers must be installed to protect workers where the project is on a freeway, is not a mobile operation, and is expected to take more than five days. Where barriers are impractical, or the job is five days or less, crash trucks must be positioned instead. O. Reg. 213/91, ss. 67 (7) and 67 (10) ## Related safety training requirements - [Worker Health and Safety Awareness in Ontario: no expiry](https://ontariocertificationregistry.ca/safety-training/worker-awareness/) - [Supervisor Health and Safety Awareness in Ontario: no expiry](https://ontariocertificationregistry.ca/safety-training/supervisor-awareness/) - [Lift Truck Operation in Ontario: no expiry](https://ontariocertificationregistry.ca/safety-training/forklift/) - [All Ontario safety training requirements compared side by side](https://ontariocertificationregistry.ca/safety-training/) - [Ontario workplace fatalities and critical injuries by sector](https://ontariocertificationregistry.ca/trades/safety/) - [The compulsory trades in Ontario](https://ontariocertificationregistry.ca/trades/compulsory/) ## Official sources Every statement above was read from the source itself rather than a summary of it. Where Ontario law is silent, this page says so instead of repeating industry practice as if it were a legal requirement. - [O. Reg. 213/91, Construction Projects](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/910213) - [Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90o01)This is an independent summary of public information, not legal advice, and requirements change. Confirm the current requirement with the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development before acting on it. --- Source: https://ontariocertificationregistry.ca/safety-training/traffic-control-person/