Licensing

Local tour guides in Toronto are not licensed by a local authority. This is not the case in some other localities in North America and it is especially not so in Europe. Our Committee on Certification and Licensing has determined that there would be benefits to the local guides, tour operators both locally and from out-of-town, and the touring public if there was a form of licensing to help assure quality.

The issue of licensing ties in closely with the other issue of certification of guides. Without certification, it is not likely that licensing would be a meaningful exercise. In fact, it is not really possible to have licensing without certification. Be sure to read also our page on "Certification" which you will find by returning to the "Issues" page on the navigation bar.

The licensing issue will take some time to resolve, and we will be watching it closely.

Most of our members, nearly 90%, are licensed to work in another area nearby. Guides who tour the famous Niagara Parks of Ontario just 138 km. (86 miles) from us must be licensed by the Niagara Parks Commission. You might say we are licensed, but it is to work outside of our city. There is a great volume of tour traffic heading to Niagara Falls from Toronto. Naturally we find it convenient to have this license. Our employers also appreciate the fact that we have the license.