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TDG: Training and the TDG certificate

Who must be trained, what adequate training means, how the employer issues the training certificate, what it must show, when it expires and what records the employer keeps.

  • 15 questions
  • Topic drill
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Training and the TDG certificate · Question 1Score 0/0

A TDG inspector stops a truck and asks the driver for a training certificate. When must the driver show it?

Study reference: TDG Act and Regulations (current to 2026-09-30), Ch. 7 Training — Part 6, ss. 6.1–6.8; Transport Canada TDG training bulletin

All 15 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

  1. A TDG inspector stops a truck and asks the driver for a training certificate. When must the driver show it?

    1. Within 24 hours
    2. Within 15 days
    3. Within 30 days
    4. Immediately

  2. Who issues a TDG training certificate to an employee?

    1. CANUTEC
    2. The employer
    3. Transport Canada
    4. The provincial licensing office

  3. Who needs to be trained and hold a TDG training certificate?

    1. Only workers who handle more than 500 kg
    2. Anyone who handles, offers for transport or transports dangerous goods
    3. Only managers who sign shipping documents
    4. Only drivers of trucks that display placards on all four sides

  4. How long must an employer keep a copy of an employee's training certificate and training record?

    1. Until two years after the certificate expires
    2. For five years after the training date
    3. Until the day the certificate expires
    4. For one year after the employee is hired

  5. A US-licensed truck driver is trained under 49 CFR and drives into Canada. Is that US training record valid here?

    1. Only for goods that need no placards at all
    2. No, a Canadian employer must issue a new one at the border
    3. Yes, while it is valid in the United States
    4. Only if CANUTEC stamps it at the first stop

  6. Who must sign a TDG training certificate issued by an employer?

    1. A Transport Canada inspector and the employee
    2. The employee and the employer, or someone acting for the employer
    3. Only the course instructor who taught the training and set the final test
    4. The employee alone, with no other signature

  7. What makes a worker "adequately trained" under the TDG Regulations?

    1. Holding a commercial driver's licence for at least one year
    2. Sound knowledge of the TDG topics that relate directly to their duties
    3. Passing a written exam that Transport Canada sets for each province
    4. Completing exactly eight hours of classroom instruction

  8. A shipper prepares dangerous goods for air transport. How long is the training certificate valid?

    1. 36 months
    2. 24 months
    3. 12 months
    4. 48 months

  9. A highway tank driver hauls only Class 3 fuels. According to Transport Canada, what training does the driver need?

    1. No training, since fuels are exempt from Part 6
    2. Training on all nine classes, including radioactive and infectious goods
    3. Training on the Class 3 goods and duties the driver actually has
    4. Air and marine training as well as road training

  10. A certificate covers transport by road. When does it expire?

    1. 24 months after it is issued
    2. 36 months after it is issued
    3. 60 months after it is issued
    4. 12 months after it is issued

  11. A driver works part time for two trucking companies. How many TDG certificates should the driver hold?

    1. One, issued by the first employer
    2. None, part-time drivers are exempt
    3. Two, one from each employer
    4. One, issued by Transport Canada

  12. Which item must appear on a TDG training certificate?

    1. The employee's home address and date of birth
    2. The expiry date after the words "Expires on"
    3. The instructor's TDG inspector number
    4. The number of hours the course took

  13. A new warehouse worker has no certificate yet. When may they load dangerous goods?

    1. Under the direct supervision of a trained, certified person who is present
    2. Once they have signed up for a course next month
    3. When a certified supervisor watches them on a camera feed
    4. After watching a training video at home on their own time and passing a quiz

  14. Which training format do the TDG Regulations require?

    1. Only an online course with a timed final exam
    2. Only training delivered in person at a Transport Canada regional office
    3. None in particular: classroom, job training and experience all count
    4. Only an in-person classroom course run by a college

  15. An owner-operator truck driver works for himself. Who issues his TDG training certificate?

    1. The company that sold him the online course
    2. Transport Canada's regional office
    3. The customer whose goods he carries
    4. He issues it to himself once he is adequately trained

Training and the TDG certificate: key rules to remember

Our summary of what the official handbook says on this topic, in our own words. Read it before or after the practice questions above, then check the original chapter. Read the official chapter ↗

Training certificate requirements (s. 6.1)

  • Anyone who handles, offers for transport or transports dangerous goods must be adequately trained and hold a training certificate, or work in the presence and under the direct supervision of someone who is trained and certified.
  • An employer must not let an employee do these tasks unless the employee meets the same condition.
  • Transport Canada's bulletin explains that direct supervision means being physically accompanied; camera or remote monitoring does not count.
  • Training is always required unless an exemption applies; most exemptions are in sections 1.15 to 1.50.

Adequate training (s. 6.2)

  • A person is adequately trained when they have sound knowledge of the topics that relate directly to their duties and the goods they handle.
  • The topic list includes classification, shipping names, use of Schedules 1 to 3, documentation, dangerous goods marks, means of containment, ERAPs, reporting, safe handling and the goods' characteristics, use of equipment and reasonable emergency measures.
  • Air transport training also covers the ICAO Technical Instructions; marine training covers the IMDG Code.
  • The Regulations do not set the type of training: it may combine classroom work, on-the-job training and experience; the employer decides what is adequate.

Issuing the certificate (s. 6.3)

  • The employer issues the training certificate when it has reasonable grounds to believe the employee is adequately trained and will do the duties the training covers.
  • A self-employed person who is adequately trained issues a certificate to themself.
  • The certificate shows the employer's name and business address, the employee's name, the expiry date after the words "Expires on", and the aspects of handling, offering or transporting for which the person is trained.
  • The certificate is signed by the employee and by the employer (or someone acting for the employer).
  • Transport Canada's bulletin adds that certificates are not transferable: a person working for two employers gets two certificates. There is no standard form, and paper or electronic certificates are both accepted.

Foreign carriers (s. 6.4)

  • A valid US training record under 49 CFR for a US-licensed truck driver or a train crew member counts as a valid certificate in Canada.

Expiry (s. 6.5)

  • A certificate for transport by road, rail or vessel expires 36 months after it is issued.
  • A certificate for transport by aircraft expires 24 months after it is issued.

Keeping and showing proof (ss. 6.6–6.8)

  • The employer keeps a record of training or a statement of experience, plus a copy of the certificate, from issue until two years after it expires.
  • The employer must send copies within 15 days of an inspector's written request.
  • A worker asked by an inspector for their training certificate must show it immediately.
  • A statement of experience explains why the employer believes a worker is trained, for example years doing the same job under unchanged rules.

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