How many questions are on the heavy equipment operator exam (CCQ)?

There is no single “heavy equipment operator” exam: the CCQ publishes one information sheet and one qualification exam per machine class. The five published sheets give 60 questions for the grader, tractor, roller and spreader operators, and 61 questions for the excavator operator. Each question is worth 1 point, the exam lasts three hours and the pass mark is 60%. Each exam is passed separately: no grade combines them.

Each sheet also publishes its own three-section breakdown, with weights that differ from one machine to the next (30/25/45 for graders, 40/28/32 for excavators, 35/45/20 for tractors, 20/40/40 for rollers, 30/50/20 for spreaders). The published elements cover machine inspection and maintenance, site safety, reading survey stakes, excavation, grading or spreading techniques depending on the class, and communication signals.

The CCQ registration fee for a qualification exam is $100, non-refundable and valid for 12 months minus one day from payment (CCQ, “Admissibilité” page).

Metierium prepares all five exams, with a separate training plan per machine; the question pool is shared by all five, and each machine's own coverage depends on the available bank — it is thinnest for spreaders.