WHMIS Certificate FAQ

WHMIS stands for Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. It is Canada's national system for giving workers health and safety information about hazardous products used, handled, or stored in the workplace, through labels, safety data sheets, and worker education.

WHMIS 2015 is the current version, updated from the original 1988 system to align with the Globally Harmonized System, known as GHS, the international standard many countries use. The update brought new hazard classes, new pictograms, and a standardized 16-section format for safety data sheets.

Pictograms are the hazard symbols on product labels. WHMIS 2015 uses a standard set, such as the flame for flammable products, the corrosion symbol, the skull and crossbones for toxic products, and the biohazardous infectious material symbol. Each one shows the type of hazard at a glance.

SDS stands for Safety Data Sheet. It is a document that gives detailed safety information about a hazardous product, including its hazards, safe handling, storage, and what to do in an emergency.

The course covers how hazardous products are grouped and classified, the WHMIS pictograms, how to read labels and safety data sheets, the personal protective equipment you may need, and basic emergency steps. Your employer then adds site-specific training for the exact products at your job.

WHMIS is the specific training about hazardous products and how their hazards are labelled and explained. General workplace safety training is broader and covers many other topics. WHMIS is one required part of a full safety program.

Some products are covered by other laws instead of WHMIS. The main exemptions are:

• Explosives, under the Explosives Act
• Cosmetics, drugs, devices, or food, under the Food and Drugs Act
• Pest control products, under the Pest Control Products Act
• Consumer products, under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act
• Wood or products made of wood
• Radioactive nuclear substances, under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act
• Hazardous waste sold for recycling, recovery, or disposal

Yes. WHMIS is federal law under the Hazardous Products Act, the Hazardous Products Regulations, and the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act, and every province and territory enforces it in the workplace under their own health and safety legislation. There are two parts: the general WHMIS education this course covers, and workplace-specific training that your employer adds for the exact hazardous products at your job.

Any worker who works with or near hazardous products needs it. This is common in warehouses, factories, labs, cleaning, healthcare, and the trades.

Jobs where you handle, store, or work near hazardous products. That includes warehouse staff, factory and production workers, cleaners, lab and healthcare workers, and many trades.

If warehouse staff open, use, or repackage hazardous products, then yes, WHMIS training is required. One exception: if a warehouse is only a temporary stop where products stay in sealed, unopened containers, Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) rules apply instead. If your team ever opens or repackages the product, WHMIS applies. Many workplaces need both. See our TDG certification course.

Yes. Anyone can take WHMIS training. Students heading into trades, labs, or warehouse work often complete it before they start.

You sign up, work through the short course, pass the exam at 70%, and download your certificate. With Probe It you do all of it online. Start here.

You can start the course with no upfront payment and only pay once you pass, so you can try it first. See our pay after you pass option. The standard price is $12.95.

Yes. Once you pass the exam, your certificate is ready to download and print the same day.

Yes. You can use any device with a working camera, including a phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop.

With Probe It it is $12.95. You can also start for free and only pay the $12.95 once you pass.

Yes. The price covers the course and the exam, and retakes are free.

Most people finish in about 1 hour. It is self paced, so you can go faster or slower.

You have 30 days from the day you log in to complete the course and the exam.

Yes. You can start, stop, and come back to it any time within your 30 days.

The exam has 20 questions.

You need 70% to pass and receive your certificate.

You can take it again. Retakes are free, so you can keep trying until you pass.

WHMIS training has no fixed legal expiry date across Canada. Probe It Food Safety issues WHMIS certificates valid for 1 year, shorter than some providers' 2 to 3 year cycles, because more frequent renewal means better retention of the safety knowledge that actually protects you on the job.

WHMIS training itself has no set legal expiry date in the federal regulation, and there is no single national rule requiring annual refreshers. Requirements vary a little by province. In British Columbia, for example, employers must review the WHMIS program for a workplace at least once a year. Outside specific provincial rules like that, most employers ask for a refresher every 1 to 3 years as best practice. Probe It Food Safety issues WHMIS certificates valid for 1 year.

You can log back in and download your copy again, since it is stored digitally. Employers can also confirm it with our Verify Certificate tool.

Online WHMIS 2015 training is accepted across Canada as general WHMIS education. Your employer then adds workplace-specific training for the exact products at your job, which the law also requires.

Yes. WHMIS is a national system, regulated federally under the Hazardous Products Act and enforced in each workplace by the provinces and territories under their own health and safety law, including Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec, the Atlantic provinces, and the territories. The general WHMIS education transfers everywhere, and your employer adds training for the specific hazardous products at your workplace.

Yes. Your employer can confirm it with the Verify Certificate tool on our site.

Yes. Payments are handled securely through Stripe, and our own server never stores your card details.