Grower Pesticide Safety Course

To achieve certification, you must complete the requirements of the Grower Pesticide Safety Course (GPSC). You will learn how to handle and use pesticides while keeping yourself, others, and the environment safe.  The course does not provide crop protection recommendations.

How to get certified?

  1. participate in the online course, OR
  2. participate in an in-person half-day Refresh & Write session, OR
  3. participate in an all day in-person course, OR
  4. study on your own and write the open book test at a one day in-person course.

All in-person courses include the open book test.   

To obtain certification, a grade of 75% or more is needed.  If you don't pass the first time, the GPSC test can be rewritten up to 2 more times at no charge, within six months.  

All certification options have the same fee.

Ready to Sign Up?

Online 

The online Grower Pesticide Safety Course is operates from Monday to Friday on specific weeks. The course is available 24 hours each of the 5 days it's open. There are 5 modules and each module's learning activities will take approximately 2 hours to complete.

Instead of a test, you are marked on your answers for each day’s learning activities, and your participation in discussions with your classmates and the instructor. These must be submitted by 11 pm each day. The marks from each module contributes to your overall grade for a possible total of 100.  You need 75% or greater to successfully complete the course for certification.

After signing up for the online course here, you will be emailed detailed instructions for course access.  Please watch for and read all emails that follow your sign up to be sure you have completed all the necessary steps before the course begins.

*** Course access involves the creation of a University of Guelph account with the Department of Open Education.  In addition, to protect the services provided by the program, you will need to set up the multi-factor authentication which verifies who you are.  If these are not set up at least 10 days before the course starts, you will be required to reschedule to the next available date. If this happens to you, please contact us.***

The more you learn before you begin the course, the easier it will be for you to participate and complete the learning activities. Before the course starts:

  • Read the manual chapters.
  • Practice your understanding by completing the Practice Your Understanding questions at the end of each chapter.
  • Watch the videos or listen to the podcasts.

Computer Skills and Equipment. You are expected be competent in the use of the internet and know how to use e-mail as you will be navigating and searching the internet, and corresponding with your instructor.  The course works best when you use a computer or laptop on Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers. You need a high speed connection to enroll in this course.  

This YouTube video demonstrates the online course format. 

Ready to Sign Up?

In-Person Course and/or Test

The test is open-book. You need a grade of 75% to pass. The test is made up of short answer and multiple choice questions. There is some math to do - bring your calculator! You have two hours to complete the test.  You can rewrite the test again at no charge within six months, if you don't pass the first time.

Ready to Sign Up?

Get Ready for Certification

Before you participate in a course or write the test, read our course manual and view our collection of videos on our YouTube Channel, Ontario Pesticide Ed. You may pick up your manual free of charge at a location near you.  If there is no location close to you, reply to the confirmation email to mail you one.

Study Tips for Success

  • Read the manual.
  • View our videos on our Ontario Pesticide Education Program YouTube channel or listen to the podcasts of each chapter.
  • Complete the Practice Your Understanding questions at the end of each chapter.  The answers are at the back of the book.
  • Use the Table of Contents. This will help you to follow along in the course and to find information during the open-book exam.
  • There is a glossary at the back of the book. Refer to it if you are unsure about the meaning of a technical word that is new to you.
  • Are you confident that you can calculate how much pesticide to use?  Read the chapter "Applying the Right Amount of Pesticide" and practice your math.
  • Pesticide labels give you the directions specific to each product.  Read the chapter "The Pesticide Label" to learn about the information on a pesticide label. 
  • If you need more help with understanding the label and the calculations, please ask for our Label and Math Workbook.

If you have any special needs, please call us at 1-800-652-8573.  We're here to help!