Ontario Law And Licensing
Not publishedof exam
Structural Pest Biology
Not publishedof exam
Labels, Classes, Formulations
Not publishedof exam
Equipment And Calculations
Not publishedof exam
Safety, IPM And Spills
Not publishedof exam
Quick Facts
- Exam
- Structural category module
- Questions
- 50 multiple choice
- Time
- 1.5 hours, open book
- Pass mark
- 75% on both parts
- Core exam
- 50 questions, 1 hour
- Certifier
- OPT&C Guelph Ridgetown
- Licence
- MECP, five years, $90
- Certification fee
- CAD $214, core plus module
- Rewrite fee
- CAD $82
- Apply by
- Within 12 months of passing
- Results
- Within 10 working days
- Domain weights
- Not published
Sign Letters A To G
A fumigation, B structural, C to F land, G storage
A equals fumigationB equals structuralC to F equal landG equals storage
Core vs Module Exam
Core Manual exam
- 50 questions, one hour
- Closed book
- Applies to all classes
Category module exam
- 50 questions, 1.5 hours
- Open book
- Structural content only
Both need 75% to certify
Which Licence Class
- Cockroaches inside a building→Structural class(Core plus module)
- Termites in a foundation→Termite class(Structural excludes termiticides)
- Aphids inside a greenhouse→Greenhouse/Interior Plant class(Pests of plants)
- Fumigant gas in building→Fumigation General class(Structural excludes gases)
- Weeds on a lawn→Landscape class(Land, not structural)
- Wasps stinging near door→Structural class(Section 71 (1))
- Rats at a landfill→Structural class(Waste disposal site)
- Running a pest business→Operator licence too(Renew every December)
Exam Format Fast Facts
- Core exam
- 50 questions, closed book
- Core time
- One hour
- Module exam
- 50 questions, open bookStructural
- Module time
- One and a half hours
- Pass mark
- 75% on each part
- Question type
- Multiple choice only
- Results
- Within 10 working days
- Rewrites
- Two more within 12 months
- Attempt limit
- Two per six month period
- After three fails
- Reapply one year after first
- Extra category
- Extra module within 12 months
- Reschedule
- Once free, 48 hours notice
Structural Class Excludes Four
Gases, chloropicrin, termiticides, herbicides
Class B fumigant gasesChloropicrinTermiticidesHerbicides
Structural vs Termite Class
Structural class
- Most structural pests
- No termiticides or herbicides
- Not pests of plants
Termite class
- All termiticides allowed
- No fumigant gases, chloropicrin
- Termite control only
Termites need the Termite class
Structural Licence Classes
- Structural
- Most structural pests, not plants
- Termite
- Termiticides for termite control
- Greenhouse/Interior Plant
- Plant pests inside structures
- Fumigation General
- Fumigant gases, any fumigation
- Fumigation Commodity
- Enclosed commodity fumigation
- Fumigation Soil
- Soil fumigation, no burrows
- Fumigation Vault
- Methyl bromide, ethylene oxide
- Land classes
- Landscape, Forestry, Agriculture, Aerial
- Water classes
- Aquatic Vegetation, Fish/Mollusc, Mosquito
- Operator licence
- Business licence, expires December 31
- Trainee
- No approved course yet
- Technician
- Approved course within 24 months
Technician vs Trainee
Technician
- Approved course within 24 months
- Practical training received
- Weekly supervisor site visit
Trainee
- No approved course yet
- Direct supervision always
- Supervisor present on site
One exterminator supervises three maximum
Structural Class Scope Limits
- Allowed work
- Any structural extermination
- Not allowed
- Pests of plants
- Fumigant gases
- Excluded from Structural classClass B
- Chloropicrin
- Excluded from Structural class
- Termiticides
- Termite class only
- Herbicides
- Excluded from Structural class
- Plant pests
- Greenhouse/Interior Plant class
- Farm animal pests
- Allowed under section 71 (1)
- Waste site pests
- Mammals, birds, arthropods allowed
- Biting or stinging pests
- Allowed outdoors near structures
- Outdoor arthropod signs
- Required beyond one metre
- Small outdoor area
- Under one square metre exempt
- Deemed land extermination
- Plants harming structural integrity
Warning Signs A To G
- Sign A
- Warning, fumigation
- Sign B
- Warning, structural extermination
- Sign C
- Notice, residential land extermination
- Sign D
- Warning, residential land extermination
- Sign E
- Notice, non-residential land extermination
- Sign F
- Warning, non-residential land extermination
- Sign G
- Warning, storage
- Sign B placement
- Outside all doors, before treatment
- Sign G placement
- Storage area and all entrances
- Vehicle Sign G
- Unsupervised pesticides in vehicle
- Permitted wording swap
- Chemical storage for pesticide storage
- Emergency numbers
- Fire, hospital, poison control
Records, Storage And Notices
- Rodenticide record
- Each placement location, during job
- Record retention
- At least two years
- Record triggers
- Strychnine, zinc phosphide, 4-aminopyridine
- Carcass disposal
- Daily, away from humans
- Job completion
- Remove product from every location
- Fire department notice
- Annual written storage notice
- Overnight vehicle storage
- Notify local fire department
- Vehicle security
- Locked compartment or restricted place
- Class A, B, C storage
- Ventilated, secured, no floor drain
- Emergency gear
- Respirator and clothing ready
- Renewal window
- 90 days before expiry
- Supervision limit
- Three technicians or trainees
- Training record
- Kept two years after leaving
German vs American Cockroach
German cockroach
- 13 to 16 millimetres
- Two dark pronotal stripes
- Carries ootheca to hatching
American cockroach
- Largest structural cockroach
- Pale margin on pronotum
- Drops ootheca early
Stripes small, pale margin large
Pest To Treatment Picker
- German cockroach in kitchen→Gel bait plus sanitation(Avoid repellent sprays)
- Oriental cockroach in basement→Fix moisture, then treat(Drains and sumps)
- Pharaoh ants budding→Slow acting bait only(Repellents split colonies)
- Carpenter ants in wood→Treat nest, fix moisture(Coarse shavings present)
- Subterranean termites found→Refer Termite class licensee(Termiticides excluded)
- Bed bugs confirmed→Repeat harbourage treatment(Eggs survive contact sprays)
- Mice inside building→Many close trap placements(Seal 6 millimetre gaps)
- Norway rats outdoors→Prebait, then treat(Neophobia delays feeding)
- Cluster flies in attic→Exclusion and vacuuming(No indoor breeding)
- Indianmeal moth in store→Find and discard source(Pheromone traps locate)
- Carpet beetles in rug→Vacuum, launder, discard(Shed skins present)
- Powderpost beetles in oak→Treat or replace sapwood(Round exit holes)
Cockroaches And Bed Bugs
- German cockroach
- Two dark pronotal stripes
- German ootheca
- Carried until nearly hatching
- German habitat
- Warm humid kitchens, washrooms
- Oriental cockroach
- Dark, sluggish, poor climber
- Oriental habitat
- Drains, sumps, damp basements
- American cockroach
- Largest, pale pronotal margin
- Brown-banded cockroach
- Banded wings, warm dry rooms
- Cockroach entry
- Cartons, equipment, used furniture
- Bed bug moult
- Blood meal before each moult
- Bed bug stages
- Five nymphal instars
- Bed bug eggs
- Cemented in cracks, survive sprays
- Bed bug evidence
- Faecal spotting, cast skins
- Bites alone
- Never confirm bed bugs
Bed Bug vs Bat Bug
Bed bug
- Short pronotal fringe hairs
- Feeds on sleeping people
- Harbours in bed seams
Bat bug
- Long pronotal fringe hairs
- Feeds mainly on bats
- Comes from roosts, voids
Exclude bats before treating bugs
Ants And Wood Destroyers
- Carpenter ant frass
- Coarse shavings, insect parts
- Carpenter ant galleries
- Smooth, clean, no soil
- Subterranean termite
- Reticulitermes flavipes in Ontario
- Termite galleries
- Packed with soil, faeces
- Shelter tubes
- Mud tubes across foundations
- Termite moisture
- Constant soil moisture required
- Pharaoh ant baiting
- Slow bait, never repellent
- Colony budding
- Repellents split and spread
- Swarmer antennae
- Termite bead-like, ant elbowed
- Swarmer waist
- Termite broad, ant pinched
- Swarmer wings
- Termite four equal, ant unequal
- Lyctid powderpost beetle
- Round holes, flour-like frass
- Lyctid hosts
- Large-pored hardwoods, not softwood
Carpenter Ant vs Termite
Carpenter ant
- Coarse shavings pushed out
- Smooth clean galleries
- Elbowed antennae, pinched waist
Subterranean termite
- Soil packed galleries
- Mud shelter tubes
- Bead antennae, broad waist
Shavings ant, mud tubes termite
Rodents And Exclusion Gaps
- House mouse feeding
- Many small nibbles, curious
- Mouse placements
- Many stations, closely spaced
- Norway rat
- Blunt muzzle, short tail
- Norway rat nesting
- Burrows at ground level
- Roof rat
- Pointed muzzle, long tail
- Roof rat nesting
- High in upper structures
- Rat neophobia
- Avoids new objects for days
- Prebaiting
- Untreated bait establishes feeding
- Mouse gap
- About 6 millimetres
- Rat gap
- About 12 millimetres
- Exclusion materials
- Hardware cloth, sheet metal, mortar
- Bait station rules
- Locked, anchored, labelled, inspected
- Rodent signs
- Droppings, runways, rub marks
Fabric And Stored Product Pests
- Carpet beetle larvae
- Bristly, shed skins, grazed damage
- Clothes moth larvae
- Silken tubes, dark folds
- Fabric pest control
- Vacuum, launder or discard
- Indianmeal moth
- Webbing in stored food
- Pheromone traps
- Catch males, locate source
- Stored product fix
- Find and discard infested product
- Cluster fly larvae
- Parasitize earthworms outdoors
- Cluster fly control
- Exclusion and vacuuming
- Cluster fly timing
- Treat exterior late summer
- Silverfish
- Damp, starchy paper, humidity
- Firebrat
- Prefers hot dry areas
- Drain fly
- Organic film in drains
Signal Word Shapes
Triangle caution, diamond warning, octagon danger
Three sides lowFour sides moderateEight sides high
Class B vs Class D
Class B restricted
- Licensed exterminators, certified farmers
- Extra label restrictions
- Stricter storage rules
Class D domestic
- Sold to the public
- Home use around house
- Lighter storage rules
Class letter drives who uses
Label Parts To Find
- Product name
- Brand and chemical name
- Registration number
- Pest Control Products Act
- Guarantee
- Active ingredient concentration
- Class designation
- Domestic, commercial, restricted, manufacturing
- Net contents
- Metric units on panel
- Directions for use
- Sites, pests, rates, methods
- Precautions
- Hazards and handling limits
- First aid
- Bring label to clinician
- Toxicological information
- Guidance for treating physician
- Re-entry period
- Wait time before entry
- Storage and disposal
- Container and product handling
- Label is law
- Off-label use is offence
Signal Words And Symbols
- CAUTION
- Low hazard signal word
- WARNING
- Moderate hazard signal word
- DANGER
- High hazard signal word
- Triangle
- Three sides, low hazard
- Diamond
- Four sides, moderate hazard
- Octagon
- Eight sides, high hazard
- Poison pictogram
- Oral or inhalation hazard
- Corrosive pictogram
- Burns skin and eyes
- Flammable pictogram
- Low flash point
- Explosive pictogram
- Pressurized container hazard
- Multiple hazards
- All symbols, one signal word
- Read the label
- Required statement before use
Ontario Pesticide Classes
- Class A
- Manufacturing use only
- Class B
- Restricted, licensed users
- Class C
- Commercial, licensed users
- Class D
- Domestic, general public
- Class E
- Treated corn, soybean seed
- Class B storage
- Pesticide-only storage area
- Class A notice
- Fire department notice required
- Sale rule
- Vendor licence to sell
- Federal registration
- Registered before Ontario sale
- Cosmetic ban
- Applies to land exterminations
- Use rule
- Label plus regulation govern
- Container rule
- Keep product in original container
Formulation Codes
- EC
- Emulsifiable concentrate, mixes milky
- WP
- Wettable powder, needs agitation
- SC
- Suspension concentrate, flowable
- D
- Dust, dry voids only
- G
- Granule, ready to apply
- Gel bait
- Small spots near harbourage
- Bait station
- Enclosed, tamper resistant device
- Aerosol
- Pressurized, crack and crevice
- ULV concentrate
- Fine droplets, space treatment
- IGR
- Insect growth regulator
- Desiccant dust
- Silica or diatomaceous earth
- Microencapsulated
- Slow release residual capsules
Dilution Formula
Want divided by have, times batch size
Want is target strengthHave is concentrate strengthBatch is finished volume
Bait vs Residual Spray
Bait
- Pest carries dose home
- Reaches hidden colonies
- Ruined by sprays, cleaners
Residual spray
- Deposit kills on contact
- Treats surfaces and cracks
- Can scatter ant colonies
Never spray over bait spots
Formulation Picker
- Dry wall void→Dust(Barely visible film)
- Cockroach harbourage edge→Gel bait(Away from sprays)
- Baseboard perimeter band→Residual liquid, fan nozzle(Even coverage)
- Crack or expansion joint→Aerosol or pin stream(No exposed deposit)
- Flying insects in airspace→ULV space treatment(Vacate and ventilate)
- Rodents near public areas→Locked tamper resistant station(Anchor and label)
- Porous surface, quick breakdown→Microencapsulated or wettable powder(Longer residual)
- Long term population control→Insect growth regulator(Stops development)
Equipment And Nozzle Patterns
- Compressed air sprayer
- Hand pumped, low volume
- Duster
- Puffs dust into voids
- Bait gun
- Places gel spots precisely
- ULV fogger
- Fills airspace, little residual
- Fan nozzle
- Even band along baseboard
- Pin stream nozzle
- Injects cracks and voids
- Cone nozzle
- Broad spot or surface
- Output creep cause
- Worn, enlarged nozzle orifice
- Calibration check
- Time discharge into container
- Tank fill order
- Water, concentrate, water, agitate
- Backflow prevention
- Air gap above liquid
- Rinse routine
- Triple rinse into tank
Crack And Crevice vs Spot
Crack and crevice
- Product into voids only
- No exposed surface deposit
- Pin stream or aerosol
Spot treatment
- Limited exposed surface area
- Visible deposit allowed
- Fan or cone nozzle
Label term decides the method
Application Method Terms
- Crack and crevice
- Into voids, no exposed deposit
- Spot treatment
- Limited surface area only
- General surface
- Broad exposed surface treatment
- Space treatment
- Airborne droplets, dosed by volume
- Void treatment
- Dust behind walls, fixtures
- Perimeter treatment
- Band around building base
- Barrier application
- Continuous treated zone
- Dust film
- Barely visible, never piled
- Bait placement
- Away from sprays, cleaners
- Baseboard band
- Fan nozzle, even coverage
- Re-entry wait
- Ventilation period on label
- Non-target protection
- Cover food, remove pets
Calculation Formulas
- Concentrate needed
- Want divided by have, times volume
- Active ingredient
- Concentration times container volume
- Ratio 1:100
- 10 millilitres per litre
- Room volume
- Length times width times height
- Floor area
- Length times width
- Area dose
- Area divided by 100, times rate
- Sprayer output
- Volume collected divided by time
- 1 ppm
- One milligram per litre
- Percent to grams
- 1% equals 10 grams per litre
- Unit check
- Convert all units first
- Litres to millilitres
- Multiply by 1,000
- Overmixing risk
- Disposal problem, label breach
Worked Calculations
- 10 L at 0.5%
- 250 mL of 20% concentrate
- 5 L at 240 g/L
- 1,200 grams active ingredient
- Room 10 by 6 by 3
- 180 cubic metres
- Floor 8 by 5 metres
- 40 square metres
- Rate 5 L per 100 m2
- 2 litres over 40 m2
- 1 L in 2 minutes
- 0.5 litres per minute
- 1:100 in 5 L
- 50 millilitres concentrate
- 2 mg/L in water
- Equals 2 parts per million
- 1 mL per cubic metre
- 180 mL treats 180 m3
- 20% down to 1%
- One part into twenty
IPM Step Order
Identify, monitor, threshold, act, evaluate
Identify before any productMonitor with trapsAct past thresholdEvaluate and adjust
Acute vs Chronic Toxicity
Acute
- Single or short exposure
- Effects appear quickly
- Measured by LD50
Chronic
- Repeated low exposures
- Effects appear later
- Found in long studies
Lower LD50 means more toxic
Spill Or Exposure Response
- Pesticide reaches a drain→Call Spills Action Centre(1-800-268-6060)
- Small contained spill→Control, contain, clean up(Absorbent, then dispose)
- Concentrate splashes skin→Remove clothing, wash thoroughly(Label states duration)
- Product enters the eye→Rinse 15 minutes(Then seek care)
- Product is swallowed→Follow label first aid(Bring the label)
- Breathing difficulty after fogging→Move to fresh air(Seek medical attention)
- Pesticide stolen from van→Notify Spills Action Centre(As soon as practicable)
- Fire at storage area→Posted emergency numbers(Fire department notified annually)
IPM Step Order
- Step 1
- Inspect and identify pest
- Step 2
- Find food, water, harbourage
- Step 3
- Monitor with traps
- Step 4
- Set action threshold
- Step 5
- Choose non-chemical controls first
- Step 6
- Apply targeted pesticide if needed
- Step 7
- Evaluate results, adjust plan
- Sanitation
- Removes competing food, boosts baits
- Exclusion
- Seal gaps, fit door sweeps
- Habitat fix
- Correct moisture and drain defects
- Monitoring value
- Trap counts show real trend
- Identification first
- Wrong identification causes callbacks
Exposure Route Order
Dermal first, then inhalation, oral, eye
Hands and forearms leadMixing is riskiestWash before eating
PPE And Exposure Routes
- Dermal
- Largest applicator exposure route
- Highest risk task
- Mixing and loading concentrate
- Hands and forearms
- Most contaminated body areas
- Inhalation
- Confined spaces and fogging
- Oral
- Eating with contaminated hands
- Eye
- Splash during pouring, mixing
- PPE source
- Label states the minimum
- More is allowed
- Never less than label
- Gloves
- Unlined nitrile or neoprene
- Respirator
- Required in confined spaces
- Wash rule
- Wash before eating or smoking
- Clothing
- Change and launder separately
Spill And Emergency Steps
- Spills Action Centre
- 1-800-268-6060, staffed always
- Report timing
- Immediately after the discharge
- Also notify
- Municipality and affected persons
- Theft or loss
- Report as soon as practicable
- Spill order
- Control, contain, clean up
- Keep out of
- Drains, sewers, watercourses
- Absorbent
- Sand, vermiculite, absorbent pads
- Skin splash
- Remove clothing, wash thoroughly
- Eye splash
- Rinse 15 minutes, seek care
- Bring the label
- Guides the treating clinician
- Fire emergency
- Posted numbers at storage
- Never decant
- Original labelled container only
Common Traps
Grade 10 Is Not Required
Old guides print Grade 10 ≠ Regulation requires age sixteen only
Licence Runs Five Years
Exterminator licence lasts five years ≠ Operator licence expires December 31
Structural Cannot Treat Termites
Structural class excludes termiticides ≠ Termite class treats termites
Rodenticide Record Is Two Years
Placement record kept two years ≠ No general five year rule
Certification Is Not A Licence
OPT&C issues a certification letter ≠ MECP issues the exterminator licence
Bites Never Confirm Bed Bugs
Skin reactions vary widely ≠ Faecal spotting and skins confirm
Only The Module Is Open
Module exam is open book ≠ Core exam is closed book
Fogging Leaves No Residual
ULV kills exposed insects only ≠ Residual product lasts longer
Sign G Is Not Sign B
Sign G marks pesticide storage ≠ Sign B marks structural extermination
Cosmetic Ban Is Land Only
Ban targets cosmetic land exterminations ≠ Structural pest work is separate
Last Minute
- 1.Module exam: 50 questions, open book
- 2.Core exam: 50 questions, closed book
- 3.Pass mark is 75% on both
- 4.Exterminator licence lasts five years
- 5.Structural excludes gases, chloropicrin, termiticides, herbicides
- 6.Termites need the Termite class
- 7.Sign B structural, Sign G storage
- 8.Rodenticide placement records kept two years
- 9.Spills Action Centre: 1-800-268-6060
- 10.Want divided by have, times batch
- 11.1 milligram per litre equals ppm
- 12.Mice pass 6 millimetres, rats 12
- 13.Termite mud tubes, ant shavings
- 14.Dermal exposure leads, so wash hands
- 15.Label plus regulation govern every use
- 16.Apply to MECP within 12 months
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