Ontario Traffic Control (Flagger) Course: Lessons 2026

Lesson 1: Who may direct traffic in Ontario

A security licence does not give you any power over drivers on a public road. Ontario's security guard study guide says guards may control traffic on private property, such as at gated entrances or in parking lots, to keep people safe and help vehicles move. On public roads, drivers must follow police directions.

Road work is different. Ontario's Construction Projects regulation (O. Reg. 213/91), made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, allows a worker on a project to direct traffic. The regulation treats this as one protective measure that can be used in addition to others, such as barriers, warning signs and crash trucks. A worker who directs traffic in this way is often called a traffic control person (TCP) or flagger.

The Official MTO Driver's Handbook tells drivers to watch for traffic-control people and follow their instructions. It also says it is an offence to disobey STOP or SLOW signs shown by a traffic-control person or a firefighter.

Is there a TCP licence in Ontario?

The regulation does not create a provincial TCP licence or name a certificate. Instead, it says the worker must be competent and must get adequate written and oral instructions from the employer. Book 7 of the Ontario Traffic Manual adds that everyone who uses it, including TCPs, must be trained in it. Your employer decides who trains you. This course does not meet those training duties.

Lesson 2: Ontario's rules for traffic control persons

Section 69 of O. Reg. 213/91 sets the main rules for a worker who directs traffic on a public way. Learn them well, because they protect your life.

The traffic protection plan

Under section 67, every employer whose workers may be put at risk by traffic on a project must write and carry out a traffic protection plan. The plan lists the traffic hazards and the measures used to protect workers. It must be kept at the project and shown to an inspector or a worker who asks for it.

Workers who set up or take down cones, signs and other measures on the road must also be competent, must do no other work during that task, and must get written and oral instructions in a language they understand.

Lesson 3: The STOP/SLOW sign and your garment

Section 68 describes the sign a traffic control person must use. Book 7 calls it the TC-22 STOP/SLOW paddle.

• Shape and size: an octagon, 450 mm between opposite sides.
• Pole: mounted on a pole 1.2 m long. The sign must be at least as rigid as 6 mm plywood.
• STOP side: high-intensity retro-reflective red, with white STOP letters 150 mm high.
• SLOW side: high-intensity retro-reflective fluorescent chartreuse (yellow-green), with a black diamond border and black SLOW letters 120 mm high.
• Condition: kept clean and easy to read.

The high-visibility garment (section 69.1)

• It covers at least the upper body.
• Its colour is fluorescent blaze orange or international orange.
• It has two yellow stripes, 5 cm wide, on the front and the back. They are retro-reflective and fluorescent.
• On the front the stripes run up and down. On the back they form an X.
• A vest must have an adjustable fit. A nylon vest also needs tear-away features at the sides and front.

At night, a worker exposed to traffic must also wear retro-reflective silver stripes around each arm and each leg, or equal side stripes of at least 50 cm² on each side.

Lesson 4: Book 7 and the work zone

The Ontario Traffic Manual, Book 7: Temporary Conditions is published by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO). The 2022 version comes as a Field Edition for use on site and an Office Edition used to design traffic control. It shows standard layouts of signs, cones and TCPs for many kinds of work.

Temporary condition signs are usually orange diamonds with black symbols or words. Signs you will see around a TCP include:

Book 7 also uses a TC-20 Prepare to Stop sign in the warning area. Cones angled across the lane near the TCP form the TCP taper. Its length depends on the normal posted speed:

Intersections

At an intersection, a TCP must work together with the traffic signals or STOP signs. Never wave a driver through against a red light. Where traffic is heavy or the intersection has signals, Book 7 says to talk to the road authority about police assistance.

The MTO handbook reminds drivers that fines for speeding in a construction zone are doubled when workers are present.

Lesson 5: Staying safe at your post

The law sets the minimum. Good habits keep you alive. These general practices apply on roads, at site gates and in parking lots.

• Face oncoming traffic. Never turn your back on moving vehicles.
• Stand where drivers can see you from far away, not just around a curve or over a hill.
• Always know your escape route in case a driver does not stop.
• Give clear, steady signals and make eye contact before you release a driver.
• Keep fire lanes and emergency access clear at all times.
• If a driver ignores you, do not chase them. Note the plate and description and report it.

Before-shift checklist

1. Read the traffic protection plan and your written instructions.
2. Confirm the signals you will use and how you will talk to the other TCP or crew.
3. Check that your STOP/SLOW paddle is clean and readable.
4. Put on your orange garment, and add arm and leg stripes at night.
5. Walk the layout and confirm the warning signs and cones are in place.
6. Find your escape route.

On private property, such as a parking lot or event exit, the study guide asks guards to use conventional signals, wear reflective vests or cuffs, be courteous and explain the reason for the control when they can.